The Fix
by JaqueDark
Summary: What if the man you lost, the man you loved, died? What would you do? What if you found him alive and well in an alternate universe? What if the man you loved, loved someone else? Spoilers for Children of Earth.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

It had been a long couple of days and he still felt nauseous because of travelling through the void, he still couldn't believe he'd made it through to this universe. He'd tried everything in those six months after Steven and Ianto died to undo his mistakes, he'd searched for the Doctor but had failed to find the Time Lord. After six months of looking into every possible fix for his lover and grandson he'd failed.

So Jack did the one thing he knew how to do... he said goodbye to Gwen and Rhys and left Earth, if he couldn't find a fix on that planet then he would look out in Space...

**Part One**

The space station was a vibrant home of colour as millions of beings and creatures passed through it on a daily basis, despite it's literal colour it was a seedy hangout for the Universe's rejects. It was a place you came to either barter for something really valuable or to fade into the crowd because of past sins.

John sat at the bar on the limbus deck and downed another Verna, it had been his fourth one since he'd got here and it was now beginning to take effect sapping his vision into one big blur. He'd come here because he received a message from Jack in his wrist strap but when he turned up Jack was no where in sight... so he waited. Then started drinking.

Unaware to John Hart, Jack was sat across the room watching his former partner get drunker and drunker. He couldn't help but feel relieved because in his drunken state the other Time Agent would be easier to deal with.

"Fucking selfish bastard" John mumbled to himself as he slid off his chair annoyed that he'd been stood up and moved to leave. Jack scowled not happy that John wasn't more drunk but if he let him leave now then his plan would be ruined so he stepped out of the shadows in front of the inebriated man

"John" he greeted him, instantly John's bad mood improved

"Jack!" he couldn't help but grin "Didn't think you were coming"

"I'm here now, let's have a drink" he suggested stepping back towards the bar but John stopped him by putting his hand on his chest

"What about your little band? Where's Eye Candy?" he inquired

"They're dead" he whispered tightly "All of them except Gwen"

John could see how upset Jack was so he decided to tread lightly on the situation, he sighed then nodded back at the bar

"I'm sorry"

"Not as sorry as I am" Jack replied then shook his head "Drink"

"Two Vernas" John ordered holding up two fingers to the Luxon behind the counter, how a big warrior ended up working as a barman was beyond him. As soon as the glass was put in front of him Jack knocked it back

"Right now... I just want to forget that I was even on that planet" he lied and hoped it sounded convincing

"You never were a good liar, Jack, I know how much they meant to you. You wouldn't be here if they didn't matter, I'm not angry that you're here. I know why you're here"

"You do?" he whispered afraid that his plan was doomed but John just nodded his head

"For the drink and the sex... anything to forget the pain of loosing the people you love" he stated, Jack sighed with relief and nodded

"Help me forget, John" he begged the other man, John pulled his friend into his arms and kissed him passionately. The smaller man was so lost in the kiss he didn't notice Jack taking off his wrist strap, once he had it he pushed John off him then wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve

"Jack?" he questioned from the floor, he couldn't help but scowl when he noticed his strap was missing "What the hell are you doing?"

"I needed a working Vortex Manipulator" he answered honestly, then grinned "Remember the first lesson when we were in the Time Agency?"

"Uhh... don't... no... it was... never use the Vortex Manipulator in the Medusa Cascade... you're not going to do that are you? You'll be ripped to shreds!"

"I can't die... I'll be able to make it through the void" he told the man on the floor then pulled out his gun "And you're not going to stop me. Here, you can have my wrist strap... fair trade"

"Jack... you'll kill yourself!" protested John, the Luxon barman decided to step into the argument as soon as he noticed the gun

"No weapons!" he snarled angrily, Jack held it up in surrender then pocketed it

"He's breaking his rehab codes...." he told the alien as he pointed at John, the Luxon snarled at him... there were two rules in that bar; no weapons and no breaking rehab codes. Jack walked out leaving John at the mercy of the Luxon barmen and headed for his ship that was docked in the lower deck.

He put John's wrist strap on where his had been and checked it was working, for six months he'd tried to find anyone who could fix it... if it was fixed then he could get a ship and go to the Medusa Cascade. When he had been unable to find anyone who could repair it he started looking for other time agents, since the agency was shut down it was a hard thing to do so in the end he looked for his former partner. John Hart was easy to find because of the destruction he'd left in his wake.

"Onwards" he said to himself softly and he programmed the course for the Medusa Cascade; yes it was true that it had been sealed years ago but with all that energy of the planets being moved and with his vortex manipulator he was sure he could wedge it open enough to slip through. Well he was only a little bit sure... maybe it would work.

He shook his head ignoring his doubts and fears about going through the void, if anyone could make it then it was him. He had nothing to loose, he'd lost everything... if he failed and he did die then... well no one would miss him.

*

It was quiet flying as he piloted his ship towards the colourful patch of space; he noted the irony of something so beautiful being a doorway to something so cold and dark.

"I'm almost there" he whispered as tears came to his eyes, he didn't know what was going to happen... he didn't even know if he would make it or what that other alternate universe would be like. All he knew was that if he made it then he'd have to find Rose, she'd be able to help him get on his feet and maybe, just maybe, Ianto in that universe would still be at Torchwood.

An urgent beeping filled his small ship and he scowled when he realised that another ship had followed him and was close behind, almost in teleport range. He flicked a switch opening the comm frequency between their ships

"Jack, I can't let you do this" it was John Hart; persistent bastard thought Jack as he flicked the comm switch

"You're not going to stop me. I need to do this"

"It's suicide!" he protested. John was sat in his own ship, much larger ship, and trying to override the locked teleport controls Jack had set up on his ship. As soon as he got an open wave he teleported onto Jack's ship

"Get out of here, John" he ordered without looking up from the steering and controls

"Not without you... they aren't worth _this_" he yelled waving his arm at the screen showing the Cascade. Jack shot up out of his chair, invading his friend's face

"Don't you dare tell me that they aren't worth it!" he roared loudly poking him hard in the chest "If you knew them then you'd know that this wouldn't be enough!"

"And what? You're going to kill yourself for them?"

"I can't die, I just want to see my friends and family again..." his voice went quiet but John knew that was when he was the most serious. The control panel beeped again two times signalling that the ship was at it's destination; the two men shared a look and Captain John Hart pulled out his gun

"I can't let you do this Jack" he said, Jack pulled out his gun and aimed it at the other man

"So shoot me... or I'll shoot you. Either way I'm still going" he pointed out, John scowled scrunching his mouth up and sticking his jaw out before dropping the gun

"You better come back" he demanded finally

"No, I'm not coming back" stated Jack then he put his hand over the vortex manipulator and activated it. He vanished in a blue swirl of energy that made the entire Cascade shine brighter for a split second before it went back to it's normal swirling colours.


	2. Chapter 2

**An Authors Note:** I would have been posting the latest chapter for this story on LiveJournal if those stupid hackers hadn't taken it down because of a friggin argument!

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**Part Two**

She shut her front door behind her and the first thought on her way to work was to get coffee, Ben was waiting with the car in front of the mansion

"Morning, Ben"

"Good morning Miss Rose" he greeted her as he opened the door for her, she got in and they were off to Gloria Jean's before heading to Torchwood Tower. Ever since she'd come back to this reality she'd gone back to her old routine of working for Torchwood, she was a valuable person in terms of knowledge and technology thanks to the Doctor and it didn't hurt that her dad was extremely rich and had a lot of government contracts "So when are we going on that date?"

"When John and your wife let us" she replied with a cheeky grin, she liked Old Ben joking with her when he drove her anywhere. She was still getting used to being spoilt like that but if her parents hadn't insisted on it then Torchwood have done

"How is John?"

"He's okay... he's still getting used to things around the mansion" she answered as he pulled up in the private parking space reserved for her.

"Well you give him my best" he said as she climbed out of the car holding her coffee in one hand and her briefcase in the other

"I will do, see you later, Ben"

The building was busy and full of activity as she walked through the lobby, as soon as she was past the guard's station her assistant popped out of nowhere and began walking next to her

"Good God! You scared me! How can you get around so quietly?" she asked the other girl who was heavily pregnant

"Practice, my boyfriend tends to get all fussy when I try do anything so I've started tiptoeing around our house. He hasn't figured it out yet, God help me when he does" she commented as the two girls moved to the elevator. Rose took out her key, inserted it into the slot and the elevator went up to the topmost floor

"You're due soon, are you sure you should be working?"

"Not you too!" she protested with a smile "In a few weeks, I can't wait to have another baby"

"How is Taren?" Rose inquired of her assistant's first son

"He's as bad as his tad, keeps asking when is the baby coming?" she rolled her eyes as the elevator reached the main floor where it was filled with office booths and a large main office that belonged to Rose Tyler.

"Morning, miss Tyler" several people greeted her as she made her way to her office. She smiled politely until she was behind her door and she could kick off her heels and sink into the smooth, comfy black leather chair and enjoy her coffee. She missed all the excitement and rush she had with the Doctor... yes she had John now but it wasn't the same... she missed running and seeing new things, she missed the excitement of new places. It was all paperwork and red tape now and she hated it!

"Maybe I should take a break" she suggested to herself then leaned back, as soon as she was reclining a loud alarm went off throughout the building. Rose leapt up out of her chair and into the main office to see several bolts of electricity coming from the far wall.

The force of the energy was knocking over the booths and sending papers flying, she reacted on instinct and set the fire alarm off

"Everyone out!" she yelled, she grabbed a young man in passing "Terry, I need you to do something very important"

"What?"

"Help my assistant down the stairs. She's pregnant and you are not to leave her under any circumstances"

"Yes, Miss Tyler" he moved to the desk outside her door and helped her assistant up and out of the room towards the stairs. Once every Torchwood agent was out she went back into her office and got her gun that was hanging up on the wall as a 'souvenir', no one knew that it was actually fully loaded.

There was more energy now and the wall was rippling, she took off her suit jacket and put the strap over her shoulder holding the gun with both hands and pumped the barrel; whatever was coming through she was ready for it. There was a bright blue flash of swirls and a man was superimposed on it before the blue light disappeared and he fell to the floor... she took a step towards him.

She was interrupted when several of the building's SWAT team came rushing in, taking position and aiming their guns at the new visitor

"Men, stand down" she said as she crouched down in front of the naked man who was struggling for breath on the floor, she helped him turn over then her eyes went wide "Someone get a medic!"

"Rose"

"Hang on, Jack, hang on!" she cried but his world faded into darkness and he lost consciousness.

*

He jerked awake with a loud yelp sucking the air in desperately like he couldn't breathe, he leaned forward meeting familiar arms

"Easy, easy there Jack" Rose told him as she helped him lay back down, he gripped her arm tightly holding her so she was close enough to hear him

"I made it" he whispered before he passed out again, the doors opened and John was standing there. Rose wasn't at all surprised to see her boyfriend in the room, in fact she was a little surprised that he wasn't here sooner

"He's really here" he scowled as he took a step forward towards the bed "I can't believe it! We should send him back through!"

"We can't" Rose explained "After he came through the wall sealed itself back up again. Wherever he came from the way back is closed"

"Yes, but he got through! So we should be able to send him back!" he protested but she shook her head

"No" she stated firmly "For now he's in no fit state to go back through the void. We don't know if that would make things worse"

John sighed before coming over to put his hand on her shoulder, she put her hand over his and smiled up at him thankful for the comfort

"Has he woken up at all?" he changed the subject slightly, neither of them could believe that Jack was here in this reality

"Once, he said he made it then went back to sleep" she told him, he just nodded

"I'll wait with you" said John finally as he pulled up a chair on the opposite of the bed and sat down in it, he resisted the urge to put his feet up on the bed.

It didn't take long for Jack to wake up again, he sat up looking round to find himself in hospital wearing a thin gown with Rose and the Doctor staring at him... no, not the Doctor... it was his hand clone.

"I made it! I made it!" he cried as tears filled his eyes, relieved and happy. The two of them watching couldn't help but smile at his joy

"Why are you here, Jack?" asked John leaning forward, eager to know the answer why Jack would travel through the void. His happy joyous expression vanished replaced with a sad, sombre scowl

"I did something" he confessed "Something came to Earth... it killed people and it was going to take 10% of the world's children. I had to stop it"

"Jack" Rose coaxed as she glanced at her boyfriend before looking back at their friend "What did you do?"

"I killed my grandson to stop it" he explained "I killed a child to stop the 456. I came here because there was a chance that they'd be alive here"

"The 456" gasped Rose, she looked at John who nodded seriously. The 456 had come several months ago and the government had given them that 10%, after the 456 had gone they blamed the alien saying that they took the children. There was still riots over that loss and a lot of government buildings had been destroyed by angry parents.

"You said 'they' who did you mean by that? Your grandson... who else?" asked Rose

"My boyfriend, Ianto Jones. He worked for Torchwood One in my reality before he came to work for me so I was hoping that maybe he was here too. I know he's not my Ianto but I... I miss him, he died and there was no reason behind it! Just that monster's sick amusement!" he shouted angrily letting his emotions come to the surface

"Oh Jack" John spoke softly, they both knew Ianto Jones and if Jack hoped for them to be together he was going to end up with a broken heart all over again

"What? What? You know him, don't you" he cried, he looked back and forth between them expecting them to tell him but Rose stood up

"You should get some sleep" she told him as John took her hand "Rest and we'll come see you tomorrow"

"No! I want to see Ianto! He's here isn't he! I want to see him!" he was tossing back the covers and trying to get out of bed. John moved forward to stop him, they wrestled while Rose called for the doctors and nurses. They managed to get Jack back on the bed and sedated him, he went limp while he was still struggling and they put him back into bed

"He might hurt himself" explained Rose to the doctor in charge of Jack "I think it's best he be restrained until further notice" then they left him alone.

TBC...

* * *

Please Review! Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to Socalrose for her review! Glad you're enjoying it! Again, please review people! Don't starve the writer!

* * *

**Part Three**

He woke up in the same room only this time it was empty and he was cuffed to the bed with soft medical restraints, with a sigh he sank back on the bed. Jack had to get out of there otherwise he'd be stuck on the bad end of Torchwood and that was something he certainly didn't want.

Sucking in a sharp breathe he braced himself for what he was about to do, he twisted so his shoulder popped out and he was able to lean down wrapping his mouth around the restraints to undo them, it hadn't been the first time he'd been stuck bound somewhere... usually it had been for fun. After he got one undone he reached down to loosen the other one then he got out of bed.

Jack had to cover his scream with a pillow when he popped his shoulder back into his socket then he went in search of some clothes. Ten minutes later he was wandering down the hall dressed in scrubs, if anyone noticed his bare feet then they didn't say anything.

"Computer, computer" he said to himself quietly, if he found a computer then he'd be able to find Steven and Alice and Ianto. He turned a corner and ran smack bang into Rose Tyler

"Jack!" she gasped surprised to see him then shook her head "I was on my way to see you. I guess you better come up to my office, there's a lot I need to tell you"

She walked off, leading the way, and he paused debating whether to go with her or not. He reasoned that she was a big shot here and must have been the cause behind his restraints, how could he trust her? On the other hand she was offering answers and it would be rude not to take them; he did have a lot of questions, in the end he followed her through the corridors to her office.

The penthouse office of the Torchwood Tower was still being straightened out since his arrival, made of the poster board walls on the booths needed to be replaced so apart from several maintenance people and a few hard working agents it was pretty much empty

"Where is everyone?" he inquired as she opened the door for him

"I sent them home, after the excitement it would take some time to clear everything up. You certainly did know how to make an entrance"

"Heh, that's me" he replied with a trademark smirk, she moved behind her desk and gestured for him to sit down in the chair facing her

"There's a lot I have to tell you" began Rose as she once more kicked off her shoes under the desk "You know when I first came here there wasn't a Rose Tyler, my parents were here but I wasn't. I did some checking and you weren't here either"

"So there wasn't a Jack in this reality?" he asked rhetorically trying to figure out where she was going with this

"You were for a while. You were here in 1945 but you disappeared, there were a few witness statements saying there was a bomb and you took it away. Since I didn't exist in this line the Doctor never met me and he never ended up meeting you. You must have took that bomb away and let it detonate in space"

"So what does that mean? What about my daughter and grandson? Alice and Steven Carter?"

"They don't exist because you weren't here. They never were born" she explained, his shoulders slumped and he nodded

"What about Ianto?"

"I... we haven't been able to find him" she was going to tell him one thing but changed her mind, it was clear that she was lying to him "We found you a place to stay and we've given you an allowance so you can buy some clothes... after that we'll try and figure out what you're going to do next"

"I worked for Torchwood in our reality, would I be able to work here?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea" she told him then leaned over her phone and pressed a button "Tyler can you escort Captain Harkness down to the VIP Guest Car please"

"What the hell happened to you, Rose..." he mumbled "When did you become..."

"Don't. Jack. Just don't! I know what I've become, I have to live with it"

"Seems like that's what _we_ have to do" he commented as Tyler came in, Jack rose to his feet and followed the young but competent man out of the room.

The car was big, shiny, expensive looking and there was a driver waiting for him dressed smartly and wearing a cap

"Good afternoon, sir. Where are we going?" he inquired warmly, the man was in his fifties and seemed genuinely pleased to be driving him around. Before Jack could speak up Tyler butted in relaying the instructions Rose had given him

"He's under Miss Tyler's instructions, he's to go shopping to buy new clothes; here is his the card with his allowance on it then he's to be taken to this address" he handed the driver a credit card and a piece of paper with the address of his new home.

"Very good" he replied as he shoved the card and paper into his pocket, Tyler left for the elevator and the driver held open the door. Jack sighed but got in, he'd have to go with the flow for the time being... well it wasn't like he was given much choice.

Streets passed, reflected in the windows and he couldn't help but stare out and think of all the things he'd done to get here. There was no Alice, no Steven... was there a Ianto? Did Rose know? Was she just avoiding the hurt he'd feel if he found out Ianto Jones didn't exist here either? He couldn't bear it if he'd come all this way, travelling through the cold and the dark of the void to find another world without them in it!

"Is everything alright, sir?" he looked up, meeting the driver's eyes in the rear view mirror, he was surprised to find that he was crying

"I... oh..." he shook his head feeling like he was being torn in two "I lost my family"

"I'm sorry" the driver told him, genuine sympathy reflected in his eyes "What happened? If you don't mind me asking?"

"My... my boyfriend died from gas poisoning... and I killed my grandson in front of my daughter's eyes" he whispered, he was shamed to speak it aloud. The driver fell silent unsure of what to say to that "I know I'm a monster and I know what I did was wrong... 3 people or the world... only a inhumane monster could could make that choice! I sacrificed the three people I loved more than anything so humanity would be saved"

"That doesn't make you a monster... it makes you a hero" the driver explained as they reached the large department store "From the sounds of it, you did something incredible... I wouldn't have been able to do that"

"I wish I hadn't" he confessed "What's your name?"

"Ben, what's yours, sir?" he asked before getting out, coming round to open the car door for him. They'd parked up and Ben was going to take him round the shop

"Jack. Jack Harkness" he answered, Ben clapped him on the shoulder then shut the car door

"Come on, let's get you some clothes" he finally spoke then the two of them headed into the building.

*

The apartment was nicely decorated and modern, there was a large kitchen with black marble counter tops and silver appliances, the living room was just as big as the kitchen with a faux white marble fireplace two black leather couches and a large flat screen TV. The bedroom was decorated with red and cream and the bathroom looked like it was designed for ten people, at least.

He and Ben dropped the packages of clothes down on the coffee table and one of the leather couches. The driver clapped him on the shoulder then looked at his watch

"I have to be getting back to the Tower to pick up Miss Rose and Mr Smith, will you be okay?"

"I'll manage" he replied, Ben handed him a card

"If you need to talk then... you'll always be welcome. I'll talk to the wife and we'll invite you round for dinner, if you'd like that? I'm sure Miss Rose has got the kitchen fully stocked"

"That's all... thank you" Jack stated, he was grateful Ben's help but now he wanted him to go away so he could be alone.

Ben nodded then left shutting the door behind him and finally Jack was alone, as soon as the door shut with an audible click he could feel everything rushing against him. All the things he'd done wrong and all the hurt and the pain, all he wanted to do was break down screaming and crying in the corner but instead he swallowed sharply trying to fend off the tears that were filling his eyes and began to unpack his clothes.

He was still wearing the green scrubs he'd stolen from the medical floor in the Torchwood Tower, he sorted everything in to piles; t-shirts, then pants then underwear... he stopped when he came to the last parcel. It was a floor length greatcoat... he didn't know why the hell he'd bought it, no that wasn't true he knew why he'd bought it. He bought it because Ianto said he liked it, somehow though, he couldn't bring himself to wear it.

Jack put everything away in the draws in his bedroom then sat down on the bed unsure of what to do next, he was scared to sleep. He knew that no dreams would come, they hadn't since he'd travelled through the void; only darkness reached him and now it seemed fitting. He could still feeling the creatures who lived in the nothing and the emptiness reaching for him, he could feel time stop and start rushing past him and it was enough to drive him mad.

With a jolt he jumped up and began to pace the light hardwood floor rubbing his hands, he needed to know if Ianto was here. If not then... then he would travel through the void into the next reality, he had a lot of time to kill and it wasn't like it would kill him. Maybe in that one Alice and Steven would be alive? He sighed and shook his head, he needed something to fill his time

"Walk, I could go for a walk" he mumbled to himself, he moved to the door then stopped and looked down at what he was wearing. He turned round and got changed before heading out into the living room.

Ben had left the credit card along with the number for it on the table with his contact card and as soon as he spotted it, he picked it up and shoved it in his pocket, grabbed the keys and left.

*

The area was nice, very green and leafy... the perfect little suburban community if you wanted to get married, have kids, raise a family... that sort of thing. There was a park across the road from his building but it was void of kids; he thought back to what Rose had told him. They'd given the 456 the children in this time line... this was a world of mourning and somehow it seemed fitting that he was in it.

Despite being suburban it was still London and still extremely busy, people were coming out of work and bars were opening. It seemed like a lot of people who came out of the offices automatically went straight to the bars in search of alcohol; he could understand it. They'd lost their children and they were still moving forward... the poor fools needed all the help they could get, even if it came from a bottle...

Jack would have probably joined the sorry masses if the bars served strong alien liquid, stuff that could knock you sideways with one shot but they didn't so he steered clear of them. He walked all the way back toward the Torchwood Tower at Canary Wharf, no matter where he was... which reality... Torchwood was still home to him. It was always be his home and he felt comfortable there more than any other place.

It was dark now and the street lights had come on illuminating his path toward the building, he went in and saw a well manned security station with several uniformed men armed with standard issue stun guns

"Evening, help you?" asked one guard, he had large hands and a bustling beard

"Yeah I'm here to see Ianto Jones. Would you be able to tell me which floor he's on?" he asked, it couldn't hurt to try, if Ianto was in this reality then he'd work here like he did in the other one. The guard typed something in

"Seventh floor, booth three" said the guard handing him a visitor's pass. Jack nodded his thanks then headed to the elevator; Ianto was here! He was alive! The doors pinged open on the seventh floor to an empty office suite, there were rows and rows of booths and it didn't take him long to find the seventh one. It was laid out all nice and tidy... very like Ianto, he thought to himself; there was a small filing cabinet and several photos of him and Lisa around the desk, there was a small soft cuddly toy sat next to the screen that surprised him.

Jack sat down in the computer chair and leaned back; he thought about what Rose had told him about not being able to find the welsh man... a simple search would have found him especially since he worked for Torchwood. Then why hadn't she told him? What reason did she have for lying to him? He leaned forward and made a note of the booth's telephone number then decided to go home, Ianto had gone home already and there was no point sticking around... he could always come back tomorrow.

He walked slowly as he went back to the lift and pressed the button, he'd have to get some money out and get a cab home... he didn't have a car. Jack shook his head at his menial thoughts, is this what life's going to be like from now on, he wondered. He needed a gun, needed a job, needed Torchwood. The elevator doors opened, he moved to step inside and stopped staring at the person standing opposite him waiting for him to move aside so he could get out.

Ianto had forgotten the little toy he'd got as a surprise so he'd come back to work to pick it up, he didn't think it would take long but Laurence the security guard had told him that he'd had a visitor. Presumably this man staring at him, almost crying, was his visitor... he'd never seen this man in front of him before in his life.

"Ianto..." the man whispered then stepped sharply forward invading his space, the elevator doors shut behind him and before he knew it the man was kissing him. Ianto was surprised at first, shocked that some strange man was kissing him and then he registered that smell that made him a little dizzy.

When he finally came to his senses he realised that he was kissing the man back, what the hell was he doing? He had no clue what was going on but it _felt_ good, he tasted good and if felt right. He spun the man so his back was against the wall of the elevator and continued to make out with him

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded when he broke for air, he felt weak and aroused

"It's me. Jack..." Jack told him like that was meant to be significant. He didn't know anyone called Jack and he didn't know this man! "I can't believe I found you..."

"I have no clue who you are" he continued, coming to his senses again to move back against the opposite wall

"I can explain everything" explained Jack holding out his hand ready to invade Ianto's space again "I'm just glad I found you and we can be together now"

As soon as he finished speaking Ianto panicked pushing Jack's hand away with his left, he shook his head then pressed a button to open the door and darted out into the hall Jack hurried after him but the other man knew the layout better than he did and he ended up loosing him "Fuck" he mouthed then went down in the elevator.

*

Ianto opened the door then quickly shut it behind him and locked it like it would keep that man out and away from him; he was terrified of what had happened and worse, how he _felt_ when it happened.

"Ianto?" came the soothing silky voice from the living room. Oh God, what have I done? He thought to himself then moved towards that voice

"I..." his voice broke and he shook his head as he stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame "It was a long day at work, I'm not feeling too good. I'm just going to bed... are you okay?"

"I'm fine, cariad... are you okay? You look a bit pale"

"Nothing some sleep will cure" he answered then leaned down kissing her cheek then headed upstairs.

He passed Taren's room on the way to his and guilt of the whole thing back at the Tower just made him feel even worse, he shook his head with a heavy-hearted sigh and went to bed.

TBC...


	4. Chapter 4

**Part Four**

Jack was waiting in front of Rose's office when she came in the next morning, he looked tired but a lot more happier than he was when she'd last saw him

"Morning" he greeted her coldly, she unlocked her door and left it open for him. He followed her into the room watching as she sat down and placed her coffee on the desk, she jumped when he slammed his hands down on the desk "You lied to me!"

"I had no choice" she cried back "Shut the door Jack and I'll tell you everything"

"No. I don't want to hear it! You lied to me! Why didn't you tell me you knew he was here?!"

"Because he's married!" she yelled feeling tears well up in her eyes, she wasn't used to be people angrily shouting her like this. Rose chanced a look at Jack, he looked winded and had gone pale

"No." he shook his head

"Jack"

"No. He can't be! I saw him! I _kissed_ him! He kissed me back!"

"You did what?!" she gasped

"Last night I saw him. I came here and he was in the elevator" he explained waving his hand in front of him

"Jack he's a married man, he's a father... he'll never be with you" she told him but he wouldn't listen "He's about to have another kid, for God sake! I want you to leave him alone"

"I can't do that!" he shouted, there was a knock at the door and her assistant was standing there looking worried. Jack turned on her ready to yell for her to get out but he stopped

"Is everything okay, Rose?"

"You. It's you" he hissed "You're Lisa... oh my God. He married _Lisa_?!"

"Who are you?" Lisa snapped angry at this man in front of her who was yelling at her boss and best friend

"Leaving..." he stalked out of the office with Rose calling his name to come back.

He stomped down the seventh floor in search of the offending Welsh man, Jack was fuming as he stepped out of the lift and onto the busy floor. The office was certainly a lot more crowded than it had been last night and it was difficult to get to booth three.

Ianto was sat at his station with a headset on and tapping away at his keyboard when someone grabbed him by the shoulder and whirled him around. It was that man again, that _Jack..._ to say that he was surprised to see him showing up like this was an understatement!

"How the hell can you be married?!" Jack yelled "You're supposed to be with me!"

"I don't know who the hell you are!" shouted Ianto back at him, there was a crowd gathering to witness the argument.

Rose had come down from the top floor and brought some security guards with her just in case, she had told Lisa to stay upstairs while she sorted this

"He isn't yours, Jack" she came towards him "Let Ben take you home"

"You don't understand" whispered Jack to her not taking his eyes off Ianto "I travelled through the void to find him... I need him. You must know what if feels like to need someone"

"That's different, I love John" she hissed

"And I love him! I never told him before he died" he turned his head glaring at her "He told me how he felt with his dying breath and all I said was 'don't'!"

"Please, Jack, it's best if you go home. Or even if you go to see John at the mansion..."

"Like a little pet?" he sneered

"We need to keep tabs on you, Jack, you travelled through the void in no ship or shielding. By all rights you should be dead"

"So I'm becoming a labrat for Torchwood again?" he demanded, she shook her head even thought both of them knew better

"It's not like that, Jack..."

"I saved the world in that reality, I saved all those children... I want to be happy. I lost Tosh and Owen, I'm never going to see my daughter again or Gwen! I've _earned_ this!"

"Don't I get a say in this?" spoke Ianto suddenly voicing his protest between this strange man that he was trying to deny his attraction to and his boss "I'm a married man, I have a son and another child on the way. I'm happy... I have no intention of being with you, I'm not gay and I will never love you so go away and leave me alone"

"Ianto..." sobbed Jack as tears came to his eyes

"I wanted to save you from this" Rose told him, all she had wanted to do was protect her friend's heart from being destroyed and she failed "Ianto, Jack... come up to my office. The rest of you get back to work"

The security guards ushered a very broken Jack and a very confused Ianto after Rose as she led the way to the elevator and back up to her floor. Once the two of them were sat down in the chairs opposite her and the security guards had gone she picked up her coffee taking a long swig then wincing when she found it was cold. Rose had thought it best to leave Lisa out of this for the time being even

"Ianto, I'd like you to meet Captain Jack Harkness" she introduced him to the Welsh man "He comes from the same reality that I do"

"I don't understand"

"The company you work for is a organisation run by the crown, on the surface it just looks like a regular company but underneath... we're here to protect against alien threats to the empire"

"Aliens?" he smirked, his mouth turning up at the corners

"Yes. I wasn't born here and neither was Jack" she explained "I was born in a different reality and several years ago I came through the void and was stuck here. You know John... he's not human, well not completely, he's part Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey and Jack was born..." she trailed off not knowing where Jack had been born. He looked up realising she'd stopped talking then turned to look at Ianto

"I was born in the Boeshane Peninsula in the 51st Century. I was a Time Agent before the Agency was closed down. I ended up on Earth working for Torchwood... you worked for Torchwood in that reality too but you weren't a junior researcher"

"I don't believe this! It's nonsense!" he jumped up from the seat and began to pace the small space

"I came through the void because... in my reality you died" he stated, Ianto stopped pacing then came to sit back down next to Jack

"I died? How?"

"Gas poisoning" he told him simply

"What's the void? How did you travel through it?" then he closed his eyes and shook his head "This isn't real, why the hell am I even asking?"

"Rose, do you have a gun?" she glanced at the Dalek gun on the wall then shook her head. Jack stood up and moved to the windows behind her "I can prove this is real, you see I can't die. That's how I was able to travel through the void, I was ripped to shreds over and over and I'm still here"

"I don't believe you" he said simply then glanced pointedly at Rose "Either of you"

Rose sighed then pulled out a set of keys and handed them to Jack behind her then told Ianto to watch. Jack opened the window, stepped up onto the ledge and jumped out

"Oh God!" Ianto gasped "He jumped out!" there were several screams from outside and without thinking about it he rushed from the room.

Outside Jack was splayed out on the pavement and now a circle was forming around him, by the time Ianto got there someone was on the phone crying as she called an ambulance. He leapt from the revolving doors and sprinted across the walkway to the crowd that had formed around Jack just in time to see him jerk up sucking in sharp breathes and making the entire crowd jump in fright.

Ianto hurried over pulling him into his arms holding him safe, Jack clung desperately to the other man who held him

"It's okay, I've got you. You're safe"

"Ianto" he smiled sinking into that safe feeling and feeling content for the first time in a very long time.

Rose came out a few minutes later escorting a medical and SWAT team, looking extremely pissed off

"You have to make such a show" she snapped "I'm too young for this!"

"Then take a vacation. Travel" shot Jack back at her still enjoying the fact that Ianto was holding him.

"Retcon the lot of them apart from them two. Ianto I think you need to go see Lisa" she crossed her arms "I'm going home. Terry, you're in charge for the rest of the week" then she walked away in search of Ben to drive her home.

Ianto stood up pulling away from him without so much as a backward glance; his wife needed him even though he wanted to make sure that Jack was okay. There was something about that man that compelled him, made him feel things he'd never felt before... not even with Lisa.

*

She was shouting, yelling actually, and he'd kept quiet because of her condition... he couldn't even tell her to keep calm because that would just make things worse. He'd had one hell of a day and it still wasn't over yet

"I can't believe you've been cheating on me! You don't even have the guts to lie and tell me that this is all a big mistake!"

"Lise... I've never seen that man before today. I have no idea who he is! All I know is he's some lunatic stalker" he protested. Liar, he thought to himself... you know exactly who he is, he's an alien who can't die and he travelled through 'the void' whatever that was to be with you, he sighed deeply as his thoughts ran away with him.

"So you're not having an affair?"

"No. I love you, I married you didn't I?" he offered her a smile slowly walking towards her in fear of her using her firsts in objection to Captain Jack Harkness "And I love Taren and I love our little girl..."

She shook her head as he wiped her tears away and held her carefully in his arms, he was treating her like a china doll again but this time she didn't mind

"But why did Rose know him? I heard her yelling back at him when he was in her office before you came up"

"They were friends. I'm assuming that her, John and Jack all travelled together a long time ago" he explained

"Well then why hasn't she or John ever mentioned them before?" she continued, he shrugged his shoulders

"I don't know. Let's go to bed, it's late and we've got the whole weekend to ourselves. How about we drop Taren off at your mom's then go shopping for baby clothes?" he suggested, he knew how to make her smile.

They went upstairs and went to bed, three hours later Ianto was still alive thinking about the man who couldn't die. Sleep evaded him so he went downstairs and got a beer, sitting at the kitchen table in the dark sipping his bottle he knew he needed to see Jack again but he had no idea how to find him. He felt guilty that he wanted to know more about him, that he was still thinking about that first kiss. Ianto knew he should leave it alone but he just couldn't... he needed to see Jack again.

*

There was a firm knock at the door. It was Rose. She walked in looking tired with a weary sort of smile on her face. He'd not long gotten out of the shower and was ready for bed in his pyjama pants

"Wasn't expecting to see you tonight" he commented easily

"Retconned the bystanders, just finished up the paperwork..." she was wobbling on her feet so she tumbled down onto the couch "Cleaned up all the blood... you didn't have leave a mess"

"I'm giving Ianto up" he blurted suddenly, she stopped and looked at him like he'd grown another head, she shook her head gesturing why "Because I lost him. It was nice to pretend that he was still alive. I know that the Ianto Jones in this reality isn't mine... it was nice to pretend that he was... that I hadn't lost him"

"Oh Jack" she breathed rising up on tipsy feet to pull him into a hug, his tears dampened her hair "I'm so sorry"

"Not as sorry as I am" he replied then pulled away, she looked down fiddling with the hem of her suit jacket

"I came here to tell you" she began nervously "I'm leaving. John and me, we're can't stay here... I was put in charge of Torchwood by UNIT... it's killing me so we've decided to travel. He surprised me last weekend, he's built a ship! It's not like the Tardis but it can get us out there..."

"You're leaving Earth?"

"Not forever" she replied

"What about your mom?"

"She's not here anymore... not since Tony. When the 456 came and the children... they took my little brother Tony. He was only three years old... mom lost it, some days she's all there and she cries a lot and other days it's like she's... she hardly recognises me anymore, even on the good days. Besides, she's got my dad..."

"When are you leaving?"

"On Sunday, John finished all the flight testing. We're going to have a party at the mansion Sunday before we leave then get in the car and go... the thing is Jack" she finally looked up at him meeting his eyes "There's still Torchwood. I decided that I'm going to give it to you, the paperworks all set up and everything you need to know is on this" she held out a PDA and he took it from her

"Torchwood destroyed me in the other reality. I lost everything! My friends, my family... my lover! How can you ask me to do this?"

"Because I know you would make it a good place, and I think you need it" she told him "You can start over again... all the people you lost in the other reality, because this reality's Jack Harkness died in 1941, they're all alive. You can find them and have them work for you again"

"No" he shook his head "I'll look after Torchwood for you until you come back but I will not bring them into this, that's how they died!"

"I'm sorry" she looked down

"Don't" he shook his head then went over and pulled her into a hug "You need to go home, spend time with John and I'll be there on Sunday before you leave"

"Thank you, Jack" she said as she leaned her head against his shoulder he wasn't sure that he should thank her for giving him charge of Torchwood Tower so he didn't. She called a cab then left when it arrived leaving Jack alone.

He'd been thinking about his decision to let Ianto go ever since the Welsh man walked away from him earlier that day. It wasn't fair on either of them to keep up the _pretence_ that his Ianto was alive and well and it was an insult to his late lover's memory. He had just wanted so much to be happy.

Tomorrow he would exercise his new power as head of Torchwood but now he just needed to sleep for a very, very long time.

TBC...


	5. Chapter 5

**gillian_gutfright:** Thanks, I wanted to try and make the point clear that this wasn't _his _Ianto and that it was causing him trouble realising that. Lisa is going to be a big part of this... although I'm writing her I feel she is a bit of a Mary Sue. This is the first time I've found it difficult writing about a character we don't really know all that much about.

**KoloheSanji:** Glad you're enjoying it! Here's the next part!

**katwinchester:** Thanks! I tried to think of a way Ianto would be still alive. This seemed like a good idea as any!

**leonale:** Oh don't worry. There will be plenty of Janto loving! Keep watching this space.

**socalrose:** Happy you like the plot, and don't worry I'm sure there will be plenty of parts to come. I'm up to about 13 so far...

Please, pleaz people review it! Let me know how rubbish I am!

* * *

**Part Five**

He realised how ordinary life was going to be when the alarm clock woke him up and he went through his morning routine of getting dressed and making coffee. Today he was going to the UNIT holding facility to get them to release Toshiko Sato, he'd need a secretary and if she was alive then there was no one he trusted more.

Jack looked out the window to the quiet empty street below his flat as he sipped his coffee, he felt like that he was starting all over and no matter how many times he hated starting over from scratch it didn't half feel good. The promise of new opportunities, of new decisions made him feel alive and considering how often he died... well considering how often he felt like he was dead that was quite an achievement.

As he looked out he realised that he was afraid too, afraid of being in charge of Torchwood again; afraid of any more threats to come out of the sky. This reality was ahead of the one he had been born into and who knew what dangers lurked out there in space? Could he stand up to more threat? He shook his head, he honestly didn't know.

The long RAF standard issue coat he'd worn for so long hung from a coat-hanger on his bedroom door, he was dubious about wearing it still so he pulled on a light brown waterproof jack similar to one he'd worn when he was travelling with the Doctor and went outside.

Jack didn't get very far because as soon as he opened the main door to the building he spotted the Torchwood SUV, his breath caught in his throat and he had to remember to breathe... he hadn't been prepared in seeing it again so soon. Someone must have delivered it for him, most likely under Rose's orders.

"Is that your car?" came a strong elderly voice, he turned to see a small white haired woman scowling at him, he couldn't help but smirk because she was dressed in biker leather and looked like she was older than he was!

"Yeah, I guess it is"

"You guess? Well why don't you guess it somewhere else? That space is reserved for residents only" she didn't seem like the type of woman to be a nasty neighbour; he just put it down that she didn't know he lived here now

"Sorry" he apologised then held out his hand "I've not long moved in, I'm Jack... Jack Harkness. I'll move my car if it's in the way, they must have delivered it last night"

"Elizabeth Hallet... but everyone calls me Bess. I'm sorry I was so rude... you get all sorts thinking they can park their cars wherever they like! It's so hard to find a space for my bike" she nodded to her red and black Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 parked behind the SUV

"That is one gorgeous bike" he couldn't help but be impressed by her taste in motorcycles

"Do you like it? My grand daughter bought it for her boyfriend before he ran off with another woman. Chose a woman over that bike!"

"A bike like that? She wouldn't have stood a chance!" he joked with her and it made her smile

"Oh you are a charmer..." smiled Bess "So I asked her if I could have it; drove my son and daughter in law mad"

"I can imagine, I have to get to work but if it's okay would we be able to continue this conversation later? I don't really know anyone in London apart from my two friends who are leaving to go travelling tomorrow..."

"Of course you can. I'm in 5C, I'll see you later, Jack" she said finally then pulled on a helmet and sped off on the bike. He had to chuckle when he saw the back of her biker jacket; it read 'Granny's Angels'.

Her hair was longer, still black but a dirty black not the shiny black he remembered seeing all those times when he looked out of his office window to the work stations below. She didn't say anything, she looked broken and so without hope

"Are you okay?" she turned her brown eyes at him and glared

"Who are you? Are you a lawyer?"

"Do I look like a lawyer?" he shot back "No, I'm here on official business, calling in a favour. You see I need a secretary... no a Personal Assistant... one who knows unusual technology and isn't afraid to catalogue it"

"Are you asking me?"

"Well it's that or stay here for the rest of your life. You can stay with me until you find a place of your own"

"Why are you helping me?"

"I have my reasons. So, do you want to come work for me?"

"Yes" she nodded her head, he took out the keys and unlocked Toshiko's handcuffs then tossed the cuffs on the table

"Let's get out of here then" she was processed, given back her clothes she'd been wearing those nine long years ago when she'd been arrested by UNIT. They smelt musty but she was glad to have them she was sick of orange and would be more than happy if she never saw them again.

Toshiko looked out the window enjoying the view, it had been a very long time since she'd seen a real view.

"I don't even know your name or where I'm going to be working"

"My name's Jack Harkness and where your going to work doesn't matter for now. We're going to focus on getting you re-settled. I thought it'd be best if we get some new clothes for you and then you can freshen up when we get home. We'll sort the whole work thing out on Monday when the weekday starts"

"Home?" she turned away from the window to look at him "This isn't some... I'm not expected to... you know..."

"No. I never thought I'd say this, Tosh, but you're not my type" she blushed and felt a little embarrassed she thought he was keeping her as a kept woman "There's no one for me"

"I'm sorry, sir"

"Stop with the sir" he grinned "Call me Jack... or Captain" she couldn't help but smile at that then turned back to the window

"I think I'll stick with Jack" she told him. Their shopping trip was long and exciting, a lot more fun that his previous trip with Ben, there was running and happy squeals at new fashion. It had been a very long time since Tosh had been in the world let alone had money to spend on clothes this expensive! "Oh that dress is beautiful" he leaned close

"You should buy it"

"I can't... it's too much" she said holding out the price tag, she was about to put it back when he grabbed the hanger

"Then I'll buy it, think it'd look better on you than me but either way it's coming home with us"

"I couldn't possibly..."

"What? Wear it? Fine, use it as a dish rag then" he slipped it into the basket despite her protest "There's a party tomorrow, two of my closest friends are leaving and there's a farewell. Rose is leaving me in charge of the company and since you'll be working for me I thought it would be good I take you"

"But sir..."

"I told you, stop with the sir. Now, I'm dragging you regardless... will you do me the honour of wearing this to it?"

"Okay" she gave in as she fingered the material. He smiled happy to have got her to given in and then continued shopping, she'd never see anyone so uncaring with money "Do you have enough money for all this?"

"Call it business expense" he replied as he pulled out several shirts and added them to the overflowing basket "Torchwood pays well"

"And what is Torchwood?"

"An organisation run by the Crown, funded by it too... so we have a lot of money to blow. It's not every day you get released from a UNIT Prison Centre" he told her, she stopped staring at him then smiled

"No, it's not" agreed Toshiko then she turned round and got several tops and clothes off the racks and added them to the basket "I think that's enough for now. Can we get something to eat?"

"Sure" he nodded with his trademark smile. They paid for the clothes then went to a very high class Japanese restaurant serving sushi, sashimi and a variety of noodle and rice dishes; Jack ordered sake and they toasted Toshiko's freedom and both their new jobs.

*

"Are you ready?" Lisa asked as she held the small purse made of white PVC that was the closest match to what she was wearing, Taren was tearing round the place in a sulk because she'd made him wear his best clothes... his Sunday clothes.

"Yeah" he stood up and brushed down his jacket, he was ready and dressed nicely but he was in the same frame of mind as his son. Ianto wore suits every day of the week and the weekend was the one time he could relax in his own clothes; he would have been wearing casual jeans and a shirt if he'd had his way but since Lisa had been invited to the Tyler Mansion he had to be dressed like he was at work! Because it was Rose Tyler, Lisa's boss, and miss Rose Tyler was so much richer and better than they were! And of course they had to make an impression!

"Good, Taren! Stop running around! You'll scuff your shoes! Come on! Out to the car" she ushered the two of them out to the car so they could head off to Rose and John's farewell party

"But mom! I don't want to go to this stupid party! I'm going to be the only one there"

"Tough! We couldn't get a babysitter at such short notice!" she replied as he buckled himself into the back of his car. He drove because Lisa was in no condition what with being pregnant to their unborn girl and it gave him a chance to be distracted by her incessant talking, the road... grey and worn, line after line pushing him further and further towards something and... away. He was drifting away and as he thought about it, that was okay, at least to him.

The Tyler Mansion was impressive, there were many cars lining the driveway up the house and there were balloons hung on the door. Lisa had known Rose Tyler and John Smith ever since she went to work at Canary Wharf; she'd even met Ianto there all those years ago.

"Lisa! Hi, come in!" smiled Rose, Taren shoved passed them disappearing off into the house. John was standing in the large garden talking to a young Japanese woman when the couple got out there. The lawn was filled with people he hardly recognised and he felt so out of his depth then he spotted Jack talking to Ben who was hovering around the barbecue trying to take it over from the organised caterers.

He watched John walk over and put his hand on Jack's forearm; they were close, Ianto thought as he observed them interact, they'd been friends for a long time. Rose walked over looking happier and more at ease than he'd ever seen her, she pulled Jack into a hug then three of them laughed over some old joke.

"What is he doing here?" scowled Lisa, the Japanese lady wearing a really nice dark purple knee length dress with navy flowers sown into the hem overheard her

"Apparently they go way back, they're all friends" she explained "Jack told me that they travelled together years ago" Lisa looked over the woman offering information

"You are..."

"Toshiko Sato, nice to meet you" she smiled shaking hands with his wife before shaking hands with him. Before she could ask anything else Jack came over sweeping her away; he refused to look at Ianto. His Ianto was dead and now he all he wanted to focus on was giving Toshiko the time of her life

"Come and dance" he practically demanded as he ushered her into a marquee set up with a sound system and DJ. Heaven started to drift out of the marquee, Ianto watched them dancing so close and he felt his heart turn green

"Didn't take him long" muttered Lisa moodily before she went over to talk to Rose leaving him alone watching them. Jack looked just up as he slowly spun round during the slow dance and met his eyes.

John saw Jack staring at Ianto and when he looked he saw that the Welshman was doing the same, he scowled and left his girlfriend with her assistant and best friend and went to talk to Jack

"Rose told me you gave him up, quit the staring" he snapped making Toshiko gasp at his bluntness, Jack scowled

"I have given him up, I don't need you of all people tell me to get over some I lost!" he hissed angrily "What can I do Doctor? Tell me how I should feel..." Toshiko followed his gaze and spotted Ianto staring at them

"Jack, let's go get a drink" she suggested, he tore away from Ianto and nodded. The two of them went off and sat down at a table with a couple of beers while Ianto was left to float around the lawn.

"What happened?" inquired Tosh

"I was in love with someone and he died" he began then swigged down some of his beer, he wished it was stronger... wished it was hyper vodka that way he could let everything blur away and he'd end up doing all the things he was used to doing that made him feel secure "I know it might be hard to believe but you know that there's technology that doesn't come from this planet..."

"The Sonic Modulator was from another planet?" she whispered and he nodded

"I used a device and I came here from another reality. In that reality his name was Ianto Jones, he worked for me and well we fell in love but I never told him that I loved him back before he died. I thought that if I came to this reality with Rose and the Doctor in it then I might be able to find the people I lost. I just never expected him to be a married man" he put his hand over hers

"I'm sorry" apologised Tosh

"So am I... I thought that we could be together but I told Rose I'd let him go. That man isn't the man I fell for, even though he might look like him and I should honour Ianto's memory"

"Why don't we get absolutely hammered and take over the marquee?" she suggested finally with a smile and he had to agree. They finished their drinks and went in search of more before heading over to the dance marquee to dance.

Lisa found Ianto nursing a warm beer as he sat off by himself at a shaded garden table near the house

"Rose and John are getting ready to leave"

"Okay" he rose to his feet and followed her to the large crowd, everyone was either giving them cards or presents.

John was stood with his arm around Rose's shoulder and was smiling warmly as everyone was saying goodbye. Pete would drive them and say his goodbyes later on so he was stood off to the side watching everything and trying not to look sad.

Everyone watched a tipsy Jack and Toshiko stagger up supporting each other, holding the other up until they got to the front of the crowd

"Captain" John smiled knowing that his old friend was certainly enjoying the party, he'd heard from Rose how broken he'd been and was glad to see things looking up

"Doctor" he slurred happily then pulled out a strange looking pen device and held it out "Had a friend whip it up, she's good with things sonic... so if you have a long night with lots of cabinets to put up..."

"Jack, it's brilliant! Thank you! Look Rose!" he was bouncing with excitement at having a sonic screwdriver again. She smiled, it was like he was the Doctor again instead of John Smith

"It's just like your old one" commented Rose "Thanks Jack"

"We're always saying goodbye" he pulled away from Tosh and she nearly fell and stumbled but someone kindly held her up. The crowd of Rose and John's friends were surprised to see Jack cup Rose's face and kiss her full on the mouth; Lisa's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. She glanced at John to see how he reacted to this man kissing his girlfriend but he just had a small tight smile on his face, Jack pulled away then cupped John's face "Thank you for not sending me back" he kissed John full on the mouth before stepping back taking Tosh from the kind person who held her up.

"Bye everyone" called Rose as Pete led the two of them out to the car and the guests followed to bid their final goodbyes and leave themselves.

TBC...


	6. Chapter 6

**Nezumi-88:** All in good time... there will be members of the Torchwood team around but it won't be explained why for many parts ahead.

**Cherry-Anne Sponge:** I wanted to make it sort of symbolic, like when Jack was fighting the Daleks and he was saying goodbye to them. He was saying goodbye once more.

**KoloheSanji:** Tosh is going to become really close with Jack... in a very platonic/sibling type way. There will be no 'Josh'ing here.

**katwinchester:** Glad you liked the return of Tosh, she's one of my favourites as well. So quiet and misunderstood, I think she died before coming into her own. So many possiblities...

**gillian_gutfright:** Here is your order. I don't know how huge this slice of Ianto will be but he does grow closer to Jack, is that good enough? He grows a bit of a backbone in this as well.

* * *

**Part Six**

Before Rose and John left they told some of their closest guests that they could stay the night so naturally Jack, and Toshiko of course, Ianto, Lisa and Taren were among the few who were staying over.

Jack and Tosh continued to drink after the happy couple left; Pete was driving them out to the warehouse their space ship was in. They were leaving the planet to travel space as unofficial diplomats of Earth; the ship was kept a secret from Torchwood and UNIT because they knew it would be well sought after technology used for either organisations ends.

Lisa put Taren to bed then came back down to find Ianto had joined the drunken pair; Jack was telling hilarious stories that had both the Welshman and the Japanese girl laughing

"So dey bring da four drinks, I have nodea why dey agreed to it!" he was laughing as his words slurred, she felt jealous and insecure that her husband was having such a good time in that _man's_ company "It'sssall bit of a blurrr, after dat"

"Tell! Tell! Tell him about the time you were on Satellite 5" urged Tosh who'd been hearing some of his anecdotes as their sobriety slipped

"Oh, oh... I'm. I was! I wass on da show, dey were tryin to give me a makeova! Before I knew it, dey had me naked! So I'm standin there naked in front of da cameras!" all three of them laughed more at their drunken state than picturing him naked, although it was giving Ianto a hard time because he _could_ picture it.

"Ianto!" snapped Lisa, all three of them turned to see her standing there with her arms crossed

"Oops, it's the Missus" he announced sending the other two into fits of giggles

"What the hell are you playing at, cariad?" she hissed angrily as he stumbled to his feet coming over to her, she lowered her voice to tell him off "I thought you said you'd stay away from him!"

Even though she lowered her voice, Jack still heard her and he couldn't help but scowl. Tosh put her head down on the table to rest her eyes for a moment and he rose to his feet stomping moodily over to Lisa

"I don't know what your problem is" he began, her eyes glowered angrily

"My problem is you!" she interrupted him, her husband held up his hands gesturing for them to not fight but neither of them paid any attention

"I don't know why" he continued sulkily "You have a claim to him, I don't... you should be happy"

"I won't be happy until you leave us alone"

"I have" he whispered "My boyfriend died and I decided to let him go, it's been over six months since he died and I have to move on. So you have nothing to worry about..."

She looked at her husband who was now openly crying as he looked at Jack, he looked distraught that he'd said that he'd let him go

"Don't I?" spat Lisa rhetorically then stormed off. Ianto was torn he didn't know if wanted to make Jack take back his words or go after his wife

"Go after her" ordered Jack so he did leaving the older man alone. He watched them go and felt himself sober up, he turned back to Toshiko to find her asleep on the table; it made him smile as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her into the house.

Tosh woke up when he laid her down on the bed, she tried to sit up but he gently held her down and told her to go back to sleep. He slipped off her shoes before climbing into the large king sized bed next to her.

*

Usually he liked Mondays but not today, Rose had left a mountain of paperwork for him... there was so much red tape to sort out before he could even get to his work load and on top of that he was hungover and he had an equally hung over personal assistant to show the ropes. He and Tosh had travelled into work together; he was grateful for her being there.

Dropping half the files Rose had left him on her desk outside his new office he politely asked her to type it all up while he did the other half. Thirty minutes later the staff who worked on that floor slowly began to trickle in, they were surprised to find Tosh sitting at Lisa's desk already hard at work.

The gossips of the office congregated around the coffee pot guessing what their new boss was going to be like now that Rose was gone; they were already trying to figure out the Japanese girl and how she had gotten the job so quickly. Their gossiping came to a head when Lisa Jones walked in and was surprised to find the Japanese girl who had been hanging on _his_ arm last night at the Tyler Mansion

"What the hell are you doing sitting at my desk?" she demanded calmly, her tone betraying her emotion. Tosh took off her glasses in surprise, slowly rising to her feet

"Oh I... Jack told me that this was my desk"

"Well it isn't!" she snarled slamming her bag down on the desk, the shorter girl began collecting up the files she'd been given with every intention of moving when the main offices' door opened

"Stay where you are, Tosh, that is your desk" he announced with his arms crossed, this was the first time the rest of the staff had seen him properly... they all watched the scene with interest "Lisa, you're on paid maternity leave"

"Since when?"

"Since today. If you don't like then you can go look for another job" he was serious, calm and didn't look at all like he'd drunk his weight in alcohol only several hours earlier

"You have no right! You think you can just come in and start telling me what to do?"

"I am the boss" he pointed out and her jaw dropped "Oh, you didn't know? Rose left me in charge of Torchwood Tower"

"She... she wouldn't!"

"Why not? I have more experience with this organisation than she does, I was a good candidate for the job. Now, Mrs Jones, I think it's best you go home and enjoy your leave"

"This is because you want my husband isn't it!" she waved her finger at him accusatory, he shook his head "Replacing me with... with your Chinese Bimbo!"

"No, it's not. I don't want him, he's not the man I lost and he never will be and I'm not replacing you. You're on maternity leave and when you come back Tosh will be moved to other projects as my personal assistant and field agent" stated Jack still with his arms wrapped around himself "Oh, and she's Japanese. Not Chinese. Now go home"

She left in an over emotional huff, Jack saw them all watching him; he glanced at Tosh before telling everyone that they had work to do.

Tosh took the time to get up and knock on Jack's door, her actions weren't missed by the gossip mongers of the office who wouldn't pass up the chance to spread the rumour that the new girl was sleeping with the new boss

"Jack?" she opened the door peeking round it to see him sat at his desk leaning back looking very withdrawn "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, that was a bit difficult though" he scoffed then gestured for her to come in "How are you handling the workload?"

"Honestly? I'm loving it... I think after being in Prison with nothing to do on a daily basis has changed my outlook. I have such a need to keep busy, even more so than I ever was before"

"Good because from now on you're my right hand woman... that is if you're up to the task"

"What would that mean?"

"You help me over see everything. Anything new that comes through or needs catalogue you'll help me cover it"

"Alien tech?" she whispered, he nodded

"Would you be okay with that?" he inquired as he steepled his hands watching her think about it for a moment before she shook her head positively

"Good" Jack leaned forward resting his elbows on the desk "Because once we've got all this red tape out of the way, which should be by the end of the day, we'll go down to the vaults. We'll get to play with the toys down there"

She couldn't help but blush at what he said, it wasn't even rude or even remotely with innuendo but it sounded very flirty and naughty; she thought about what it would like to be in a relationship with Jack... she even remembered what he was like the night before making sure she was tucked up in bed and taking her shoes off. Toshiko mentally shook her head, regardless of his kind nature towards her and his obvious flirty attitude she knew that it wasn't something she wanted. But it wouldn't hurt to have a good friend

"I'd like that" she told him then went back to work.

*

Taren was in the living room when he got home, he'd almost lost it when he went to the school to pick up his son and found him gone. Ever since the 456 had come and the world had lost 10% of their children from every nation he'd been more over protective of his child; he'd been lucky that Taren had been sick with chicken pox when they called for the ten percent and he was staying with his grandmother out in the countryside

To say he was relieved was an understatement; he had almost had a heart attack when the teacher told him that Taren had already left. Ianto had had terrified thoughts of aliens taking his little boy from the school to do weird experiments on him

"Tad!" Taren cried, the young Jones absolutely loved his father because he was always around and gave him a lot of attention. It wasn't that Lisa was a bad mother, it was just she was more committed to her job than her family; which was somewhat hypocritical with her attitude towards Jack Harkness

"I was worried sick!"

"Mam got me from school" he explained quietly, he ducked his head lowering his brown eyes solemnly "She was cross"

"Great" he muttered under his breath as he picked up his son "Let's go see what we've done wrong now"

Lisa was in the kitchen hot faced and pressing ice to her forehead and the back of her neck in an attempt to keep cool "What happened?"

"That stupid homo isn't only my new boss! He made me go on early maternity leave!"

"I hardly think it's early, Lisa, you passed your due date last week" he pointed out causing her to narrow her eyes and glare at him

"Don't take his side!"

"I'm not taking anyone's side. Maybe it's for the best you're on maternity leave? It gives you more time to spend with Taren and to rest, you have been working too hard and it can't be good for the baby"

"I don't want to stay at home! As soon as Taren's off to school I'll have nothing to do!" she snapped, Taren snuggled closer into his tad's arms, it upset him and even at a young age he could hear the underlining message. She didn't want to spend time with him!

"Taren, cariad, why don't you go play upstairs for now and I'll come and get you when teas ready" he told him as he put his son down and gently pushed him out the door into the hall. The boy didn't need any further encouragement because he raced up the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him and he slammed his bedroom door "How can you be such a bitch to your own child?"

"Excuse me?!" she yelled angrily

"We could have lost him when the 456 took all those children and did you bat an eyelid? No! You didn't! All you were concerned with was your precious job! When was the last time you made time for him? Took him across the road to the park? Hell, even went into his room to say goodnight?"

"Don't you dare try and suggest I'm a bad mother! If it's anything it's because you're a bad husband!" she scooted round his accusations trying to pin the blame on him. He scowled stepping closer to her and lowered his voice

"You cheated on me with that guy from computer maintenance, I know that Taren isn't my real son but I don't care. I stood by you when that guy wouldn't! I could have walked away but no! As soon you mentioned the word pregnant I pretty much dropped down on one knee to give you some stability! I know how your parents would have reacted to you being a single mom so don't give me this bullshit about me being a bad husband. I haven't done anything wrong, I haven't cheated on you and I'm still here. God only knows why when you're such a bitch to me! You know I did, I did love you... I really did and you destroyed me"

"I-I'm sorry" she spoke softly as tears filled her eyes before they widened "Ianto, Ianto... ahh. I think my water just broke"

TBC...


	7. Chapter 7

**reddevilpoes: **Love is worth it. Jack discusses love (particular loving Ianto) with Owen when he appears.

**gillian_gutfright: **Yes the connection is coming back. Jack is only reacting to what Ianto's been like with him so far, thinking it's best to leave him alone. Rest assured Ianto is putting up a front.

**mamanana: **Glad you like it!

**katwinchester: **She's evil now but that's one of the things I like doing in fanfic. Making someone seem complete evil then redeem them somehow so watch this space.

**Authors/Note: **Yes, yes I know this part is going to start off a little silly. I just wanted to have fun, the characters don't belong to me but to RTD and Auntie Beeb. Ewww just had a scary thought. Rusty marrying Aunty Beeb... my mind is weird. Anyway Taren and Addie are mine and so is Spooner, they're original so I own em. I can't remember if this is the part where things get steamy between Jack and Ianto? If it isn't I apologise... you'll just have to wait for the next time and if it is then enjoy. Please be aware that any mistakes are mine because I have no beta yadda yadda yadda and all that jazz and this is M rated. There are ADULT/MATURE themes here involving relations between two men, if that ain't you bag you know where you can go. Thanks and peas!

**

* * *

Part Seven**

The soldier Private First Class William Spooner open the door for the two of them; the man was like an excited school boy and the woman was doing her best to share his enthusiasm. It wasn't every day orders from above came down to the team guarding the vaults, their new boss who had been hopping from one foot to the other in anticipation only moments early wanted or claimed that he wanted to see everything in the facility including the science team who had been analysing all that had been collected over the years since Torchwood was created.

"Ohhhh" he practically had an orgasm as soon as the doors were open "Now this is... this is..." the head scientist in charge of overlooking the research had assembled his team as soon as he'd received word that the new boss was coming down to observe and review them

"It's a pleasure to meet you finally, sir" he greeted him holding out his hand but the man ignored him as he looked around the vault, even the man's assistant was looking awestruck but despite that he pressed on with the introductions "I'm Doctor Steven Mayhew..."

"Jack. Jack Harkness and this is Toshiko Sato" he replied without taking his eyes off the room then without warning he darted forward and started picking stuff up from the crates with Mayhew trailing after him

"Sir, please! Don't touch that! It's dangerous! We don't know what it does!" he cried, Jack grinned at him his eyes laughing for the first time in days

"What? This thing?!" he held out the small box covered in glyphs "It's a music box that produces bubbles. See" he pressed a slot and it did just what he said it would, Jack set the box down and went for another crate "Oh God! Oh baby... look at you!" he pulled out what was clearly a large gun "I haven't seen one of these babies since I was with the Agency. Standard issue for combating rogue hoix, I could have used one of these when I was in Cardiff! I wonder if it has a setting for weevils too?"

"How do you know what it is?"

"I learned to fire with a gun like this. It's out of ammo and out of power, harmless" he tossed the gun to the doctor who caught it haphazardly making Private Spooner laugh under his breathe.

Jack opened another crate just as Mayhew was putting the gun carefully back in it's crate, it was a circular ball with a little blue button on top with black writing scrawled all over it "Can't make it out"

"Sir, please I must insist that you stop what you're doing and put it down! That technology is dangerous! We really don't know what it does" he begged, Jack just rolled his eyes before turning to the Private

"What's your name?"

"Private Spooner, sir" he answered him knowing full well the reaction his name was about to have the other man smirked but said nothing, which surprised Spooner because everyone who learned his name didn't pass up the chance to make fun of it

"Okay Private Spooner, will you get this windbag out of here and let the real experts do their job?" yeah I'm blowing hot air, Jack thought but these lab coats are cramping my style and you can't have any fun with people like that hanging around

"Sir... I must..." began Mayhew but Toshiko spoke up for the first time

"As chairman and CEO of the Torchwood Organisation my employer, and yours too, has expressed you and your team leave the room. I would recommend that you do so in a professional manner and leave him to continue naming and assessing any possible threats with this technology. Now, Private Spooner, please escort the team from the room"

Private Spooner did as he was told then returned to his station to keep guard, the new boss nor the PA had said that he had to leave, now did they? Outside Mayhew grumbled but led the team up to the canteen for a twenty minute coffee break.

"So, what do you think? Should I press it?" he asked Tosh, still holding the little orb

"Do you know what it does?" she replied glancing from the orb to him then back again, he shook his head

"Shall we find out?" he stated rhetorically then pressed the blue button there was a flash of warm soft light that filled the entire room shining over the three of them in the room before there was darkness. Absolute darkness.

Steady beeping penetrating his senses and he sleepily opened his eyes to see a world of neon orange, he lifted his hand up and was surprised to find it was a traffic cone! There was a traffic cone on his head!

"What..." he mumbled, Jack was surprised to find that he was in his bedroom. He was at home in his room, on his bed... and he wasn't alone. He was lying atop his bed with Toshiko and that guard who was called Spooner and a plastic keep left bollard, in the corner of the room tied up to the wardrobe was a donkey.

He was on one end of the bed while Spooner was on the other, cradling behind Tosh who had her fingers tightly wrapped around the end of a leash, the leash was attached to a dog collar round Spooner's neck "Toshiko, William... wake up"

Dropping the traffic cone to the side of the bed as he got up and saw what he was wearing; he was dressed only in his boxer shorts and for some reason wellington boots. In fact all three of them were wearing wellington boots dressed alike to him; the other two were in their underwear but for some reason Spooner's shorts were made out of black bin bags stapled together and he was wearing a sash that said London Petting Zoo with a badge stuck to it saying he'd come in second place finally his uniform beret topped his unusual lack of outfit. Tosh was wearing purple lacy underwear that clashed with her green boots and atop her messy hair was a plastic tiara supported by several hair rollers "Wake up!" he repeated much louder now to add injury to his throbbing headache.

The former Time Agent had the thick threaded after taste of Hyper Vodka in his mouth and the groggy after effects of a long binge, the sleeping two jerked awake when he kicked the bed. They looked at the other for a moment before jumping away from each other like they'd be burned. None of them could remember how they'd ended up here or why.

"What the hell is going on?" Spooner demanded

"I have no idea. I only woke up a few minutes ago" Jack confessed

"Oh God! I'm naked! Both of you turn around!" Tosh ordered making them turn around so she could wrap the blanket around her "Jack, what the hell is going on?!"

"I can't remember, can either of you?" inquired Jack, he peeked over his shoulder to see she was finally wrapped up in his quilt. Private Spooner shook his head and Toshiko copied him

"You don't think that we..." William began but trailed off the implication out in the air

"No I don't think so, I think we were just very, very drunk and had a really good time. Shame because a good time for me..."

"Jack!" Tosh snapped interrupting him, she wasn't in the mood for jokes

"Sorry"

"You! You pressed that button thing! I remember! You pressed it then there was that light and then we... we left Canary Wharf and went..." cried Spooner, he stopped talking when someone pressed the doorbell and pounded heavily on the door

"I'll go" announced Jack, he hurried out to the living room and opened the door revealing Bess Hallet "Bess"

"Now I've seen some parties gone awry, hell I was around when the 60s were kicking off but I've never seen anyone get so drunk they'd cross bikini contests with a nativity play!"

"What are you talking about?" asked William who'd heard her arrive and talking

"I saw you last night, the three of you! It's a miracle no one called the police! You were coming up the road with your Asian Princess riding that Donkey and you both drunk as skunks! Singing loud enough to wake the entire neighbourhood!"

"We did?" William gasped

"Bess, we weren't drunk... at least not in the conventional sense. There was an accident with some machinery where I work and we went... temporarily insane, I guess"

"You're always guessing, you should figure out what exactly happened... I think wherever you got the Donkey from, they're going to want it back" she said as she opened the door "And next time... let me be there when you go temporarily insane, it looked like fun! I haven't been on a Donkey since I was a little girl visiting the sea side! See you later!"

"Jack!" Toshiko shouted from the bedroom, she was now wearing one of Jack's shirts that covered her embarrassment. The two boys ran back into the bedroom to see her holding a mobile phone "We've lost two days. Whatever happened we've been like this for two days"

"So you're saying we've been drunk for two days?" William asked "What the hell did you do?"

"Shhh! I'm remembering something..." he cried shushing both of them "We stole the Donkey from the petting zoo and we went... went to... went to... Crufts?!"

"Oh my God" Tosh bowed her head in shame

"I think we need to get dressed and go to the office. There will be CCTV footage of whatever we did, we can trace the missing two days and maybe that will jog our memories"

The three of them took their turns getting dressed then headed out to catch a cab to Canary Wharf, once they knew what had happened they could deal with it. Jack would have to return to the donkey to the petting zoo with a big apology; he just hoped he hadn't taken any other animals and abandoned them over the course of the lost days.

*

Ianto looked down at his little girl, eight pounds three ounces of new born baby girl... she was beautiful. All the nurses thought so, the only one who didn't was Lisa who hadn't even laid eyes on her since Addiena was born. In fact she downright refused to her see new daughter which had left him being the only one cooing over her.

Today they'd been allowed to go home, his wife seemed very excited about it but still refused to hold or even look at their new daughter. So he was the one carrying her, he was the one playing the mom and he had happily bonded in a paternal way with the newest addition to the family. They got in and Lisa ran off upstairs hurriedly while he carefully balanced Addiena cradled in one arm while he checked the messages; Lisa's mother Sandy was going to be bringing Taren home this afternoon to see his new baby sister

"Lisa, cariad, you're mam's going to be coming round later" he called quietly up the stairs to avoid waking his daughter. He couldn't get over the fact that he had a daughter! "Why don't we put you down?" he cooed down at the little girl in his arms as he took her upstairs to the medium sized room that had been redecorated for her. The young Welshman had been so excited when he found out that they were going to have another baby; while he knew that Taren wasn't his, he still loved the boy regardless, he was sure that Addiena was and it had been even better news than the first time Lisa had told him. He'd bought two cots for her, one to go in this room and one for their room... he'd gone baby mad those first few months buying clothes, nappies, a Moses basket and an assortment of dummies and rattles. Thinking back he couldn't remember Lisa buying anything for Addiena, that should have been a clue.

He lay Addiena down then turned on the baby monitor putting it at the bottom of the cot then slipped the other one into the back pocket of his jeans before going to find his wife. He found her in their bedroom packing in a hurry

"What's going on? What are you doing?"

"I'm going to stay at a friends' for a few days" she replied without stopping dragging clothes out of draws and her wardrobe. Ianto marched over to her, grabbing her by the arms to get her to stop

"What the hell do you mean you're going to a 'friends' for a few days? You just had a baby! You should be here with her!"

"I can't Ianto. I never wanted her... or Taren" she confessed, he let her go so he could pace and she returned to packing

"So this is it then, you're walking out on all three of us?" he hissed turning to face her, he rubbed the back of his head roughly

"I can't be here. I'm just going to go..."

"What about them?!" he yelled, his temper was flaring angrily as he interrupted her "If you never wanted them then why the hell did you stay? Why did you get pregnant again?"

"It was an accident!" she yelled as she yanked out a draw sending clothes spilling everywhere. He scowled, his mouth turning downwards and he tried to control his breathing

"Tell me." he demanded coldly "Tell me that _he_ isn't Addiena's father" she didn't say anything just stopped still, her lack of action and words broke his heart

"No... not her too" he almost crumpled to the floor, she zipped up the suitcase just as the doorbell rang. His eyes went wide as the realisation that _he_ might have come here to take Lisa away "Is that him? He knows where we live? Did you do it with him in our bed?!"

"Ianto..." she began but he raced out the room and down the stairs before she could say anymore. She hurried after him and got to the top of the stairs to see him flinging open the door to reveal her mother and Taren.

Sandy was surprised when she heard the thudding down the stairs then the door was flung open banging sharply against the wall, her son in law was standing there looking as if he'd been crying and shaking with anger

"Ianto? What's wrong? It's not Addiena is it?" she whispered as she stood there holding her grandson's hand

"Tad!" Taren smiled reaching up for his dad

"Come in Sandy, maybe you can talk some sense into her" he suggested as he carried his son up the stairs to his room. Taren wanted to see his new baby sister, his tad had hold him that she was beautiful when Grand Mam had let him call the hospital yesterday, he didn't know why his tad was putting him in his room "Taren, I need you to stay here for now okay. There's a lot of grown up stuff that we have to talk about. I promise you can see Addie later, you can even hold her if you're good"

"Okay" he sighed giving in, he decided to kill time by making a card for his new baby sister and try and block out the shouting that was coming from his parents room.

Sandy had gone up to see what the hell was going on only to find that Lisa was struggling with a case trying to zip it up

"What's going on? Where are you going?" she asked her daughter "Are you leaving Ianto?"

"Yes" replied Lisa "I can't stay here"

"Why not? Has he done something? Hurt you? Hurt the baby?"

Ianto came back into the room and returned to his pacing, Sandy stared at him for a moment before turning back to her eldest daughter "Lisa, what the hell is going on?"

"Tell her" he snarled, Lisa glared at him like he was the one who was in the wrong "Tell her! Tell her what you're doing! Where you're going"

"Ianto..." began Sandy trying to get him to calm down but he wouldn't listen

"What kind of mother walks out on her children!" he yelled loud enough for Taren to hear and for Addie to wake up. Her jaw dropped open and she turned to face her daughter

"What?" she gasped in disbelief, she didn't... wouldn't believe it!

"Dy mab a merch dy plant! Siwd tun dy gwneud hwy?" shouted Ianto in his native tongue, she couldn't understand him, he was angry at what she was doing.

Taren crept out of his room and across the hall to Addie's room were she was crying loudly, he knelt down near her cot and began to sing the song that his tad had sung to him when he was poorly or had a bad dream

"Stars shining bright above you night breezes seem to whisper I love you birds singing in the sycamore tree dream a little dream of me...." he had no idea that it was being picked up by the baby monitor and could be heard in the other room.

"This is just stress or depression right?" Sandy tried to suggest, why the hell was she doing this? Lisa pulled out a wad of paper from the back of a drawer then handed it to Ianto

"Sign it" she ordered him

"What the hell is this?"

"Custody. I'm giving them to you"

"Lisa! No! Don't do this! It's a mistake!" cried her mother. Ianto pulled out a pen and signed it before handing a copy back to his wife

"Go on then" he said; he was hurt but he could look after himself... what made him angry was his children. He'd have to explain to them why they didn't have a mam "Get out, go to your wonderful boyfriend and don't come back"

"Ianto! Lisa! Ianto... you can't let her do this"

"I don't think I can stop her and if she doesn't want to be here... then it's her loss" he stated finally then left the room and went to find his children. Taren was crying now even though he was still singing the song, Ianto came in scooped Addie up then sat down, he pulled his son close sitting him opposite his daughter. He and his sung the song until she went back off to sleep; he put her down then carried his Taren to his room where they could cry in peace.

After Lisa had left Sandy checked in on the boys and found them curled up on Taren's little bed crying themselves to sleep, the baby monitor sat on the chest of drawers alert and ready. She didn't say anything, just closed the door over and left to go tell her husband what had happened.

*

Friday was a tough day for all; the rumour mill was churning full steam when Jack got there that morning. The two hottest topics were him, Tosh and Spooner having been spotted, by someone working in the office, with the Donkey riding it home from Crufts in their underwear and the steamy affair that Tyler was apparently having with Lisa Jones of all people.

Jack wasn't sure what to make of his but the girl in the booth next to Tyler, Tish, had said that he'd left early yesterday to pick her up because she was leaving her husband and kids. Tosh still wasn't speaking to him from sheer embarrassment despite him promising to have the entire office and any witnesses retconned. He'd gone back to the vault to find out what that machine was and he finally figured it out was a social inebriator; he'd heard of them but never seen one. It's purpose was to get you as drunk as possible by scanning you for the most powerful drug or drink you'd had then recreating that effect on you and anyone else in the room. It had come from the Vegas Galaxies and was the ultimate toy for parties... usually though there had been someone who stayed sober to control the people having a good time.

By lunch time he couldn't shake the constant gossip or rumours that were going round his head; he kept thinking of Ianto and he hoped he was okay. He wasn't even getting work done because of this distraction. He jumped up from his chair, grabbed his jacket then left his office

"Tosh" she looked up and scowled at him; he was going to be sorry for a very long time "Could you hold the fort while I go out for a bit"

"Sure" she replied coldly before looking back down at her work, he stood there for a moment and she looked back up realising that

"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have pressed it... what can I do to make it up to you?"

"Let me work with some of the catalogued technology moved to the archives" she replied seriously, he thought for a moment before nodding his head

"Done" he said, she smiled then he left the floor heading down in the elevator to find Ianto.

He was surprised to find that Ianto wasn't there, his booth was empty and his computer wasn't on. Jack looked round hoping to see him by a copier or getting some coffee but he was no where in sight

"Help you?" he turned to see a young blonde haired man standing there holding several files

"I'm looking for Ianto Jones"

"Oh, he called in this morning. Told Angie that he was on maternity leave, she wasn't too happy with that... gave him a right bollocking so he told her he quit" laughed the man

"I see" he began, the man stopped laughing when Jack wasn't laughing with him "Where is Angie? Is she in charge of his level?"

"Yeah... why?"

"I'm Jack Harkness, acting CEO for Torchwood London and Ianto happens to be a friend of a friend"

"Shit" the man blurted "You're him? The new boss?!"

"Yeah, that's me" he answered as he shoved his hands into his pockets, the man had gone pale "So you said Angie gave him a bollocking because he's taking time to look after his new baby?"

"I... I..." he stuttered

"Where's her office?" he asked, he pointed towards the far wall where all the 'better' offices were located then scurried off before he got in trouble too.

Jack walked over, found Angie's office then burst in without knocking. She was on the phone and looked very annoyed that he'd walked in without announcing himself, she held up a finger gesturing him to wait while she continued with her phone call. He waited patiently, it gave him time to look her over, she was smartly dressed but had a very cold demeanour with a pinched serious face and glasses that didn't suit her.

In the end he got tired of waiting then slammed his hand down on the disconnect on the phone, her eyes narrowed angrily at him and she put the receiver down with a clatter

"Why the hell did you do that?" she hissed

"I need to talk to you" he answered quickly in a clipped tone, she clasped her hands on the desk in front of her trying to exude authority

"Don't tell me? The new boy wants a raise?" she guessed, he shook his head

"This morning one of your employers called in saying that he was on maternity leave"

"Yes, Jones. I wasn't happy because we were short staffed and his wife has already taken leave, there was no reason for both of them to have it. I told him so and he said he quit"

"Maybe he needs to be with his family? Did you ever think of that?"

"It's none of my business" she curtly told him

"Yet you still pass judgement and give him a hard time for it..." she opened her mouth to speak but he shook his head "How much do you get paid?"

"That's none of your business!" she snapped

"Oh I think it is. This is what I want you to do, I want you to call up Ianto Jones and apologise to him and let him know that he will be on paid maternity leave for as long as he needs it and when he's ready to come back to work... what's your job title?"

"Office Manager" she told him

"When he's ready to come back to work he's promoted to Office Manager" she blinked in surprise then laughed

"I don't know who you are but if you think a Junior Researcher is going to take my job..."

"Yeah, that's right. I forgot to introduce myself... Jack Harkness acting CEO for Torchwood London" he held out his hand and she went pale realising just exactly who he was. After Rose had left and he'd started on the Monday a memo had gone round letting everyone know that he was in charge now

"I... I... I'm so sorry, sir..." rambled Angie but he wasn't having any of it

"When he's back your gone" he told her then left her office. He called up Tosh and asked her to find out where Ianto Jones lived and send it to his phone.

The SUV was waiting for him and his phone went off just as he got in, uploading the directions he sped off to find Ianto and make sure he was okay.

TBC...


	8. Chapter 8

**Sony_Boy:** Rose is plenty happy with John but she's working a very simple boring life in Torchwood. They both miss space and now that they're out there it gets better for them. Yes, Ianto is married to Lisa and Taren is his son. Don't worry, things start getting better for Jack ;]

**janto-scotswelshheaven: **Glad you like it! Was deeply upset the show went the way it did. Such a waste when they had all these possibilities to explore. Just happily exploring one as grief therapy!

**gillian_gutfright: ** Lisa is going to be a really sore subject throughout this story. I'm very mean when it comes to characters I write/create, I can make any one of them into the most evil person who ever walked the Earth then turn it round and make you feel sorry for them by redeeming them. I love doing that! I used to do it with another fandom I wrote for.

**reddevilpoes: **It was very silly I just wanted to have a little bit of silliness in there to break up all the serious stuff. I basically picked the most randomest things I could think of and stuck it in there. Well not all the random things... there was no bathtub and no cat... but that's a completely different story... :/

**katwinchester: **Glad you liked it! I had fun writing that bit, especially Bess's reaction. Here's the next part! Enjoy!

**Authors/Note:** BEWARE! There be descriptive slash scenes here. MATURE/ADULT Warnings, if you don't like then don't read! Ianto makes a choice, Jack regrets giving him up and decides it's better to be with Ianto rather than without him. Oh and there's some domesticity... Jack being domestic... I'm picturing aprons and nothing else :/ Please, please keep reviewing feed the review-starved author!

**

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Part Eight**

She was back! She was back! He opened the door and it wasn't Lisa, he couldn't help feel his heart break and he started crying

"Ianto?" whispered Jack as he crumpled down against the wall with Addie in his arms

"I thought you were her"

"What happened?" the other man inquired as he crouched down, as soon as Jack saw him he knew that the Welshman hadn't slept for quite a while "Where's Lisa?"

"Gone" he sobbed as Addie started crying in his arms "She's gone and I... I don't know what to do"

"Well I think we need to get you and..."

"Addie"

"You and Addie up off the floor" he told him then pulled him to his feet and ushered him into the house.

Jack steered Ianto into the living room and set him down on the couch, the young man looked exhausted to breaking point, he couldn't help but feel his heart go out to him "What can I do to help?"

"I think she needs her nappy changing" he looked up at him with pleading eyes and Jack nodded taking Addie from Ianto

"I'll look after her... why don't you try and get some sleep?"

"I can't I have to be awake for when Lisa comes back. I shouldn't have told her to go"

"You told her to go?"

"She was leaving anyway" he started sobbing "I shouldn't have been so angry with her, should have tried to make her stay!"

"Ianto, Ianto! If she comes back she comes back... but Addie and... Taren, was it?" Ianto nodded "They need you now. What are they going to do if you pass out from exhaustion?"

"Okay" he nodded again before making himself comfortable on the couch.

Taren came down the stairs and into the living room to find that man from Aunty Rose's party holding Addie and his tad fast asleep on the couch

"Hey Taren" greeted Jack

"You were at my aunty Rose's house" he stated "Why are you here?"

"To help out your dad, he's having a much needed nap. Would you be able to show me where Addie's diapers are?"

"What are diapers?"

"Oh uhh what do they call them over here? Nappies. She needs changing"

"Upstairs, her room. Come on" he led the way and Jack carried Addie upstairs so he could change her.

"What do you do?"

"I look after Torchwood while your aunty Rose is away. I'm in charge"

"So you're my tad's boss? My mam's too?"

"Yeah I guess I am" he said more to himself than to the little boy. Jack fixed up the nappy then buttoned her baby grow closed

"Is my mam coming back?" his head whipped round to stare at the little boy who was looking up at him so desperately; what could he tell him?

"I don't know" answered Jack honestly, Taren scowled then shook his head

"I hope she doesn't. I hate her" he spat "All she does is shout at tad and say how bad he is at everything. Don't tell my tad but I know that I'm not his son... I heard them shouting. I know that tad isn't my tad and he isn't Addie's tad"

"I won't say... you shouldn't say you hate your mom"

"She lied to tad" he shrugged his shoulders "And to me. I hate her because my tad isn't mine... I wish he was my tad" the poor boy began to cry and Jack scooped him up into a hug

"Hey, hey, hey... don't cry" he soothed the young boy, Addie began to cry so he put down Taren and lifted her up into his arms "Why don't we see if we can get Addie to go down for a nap and then you can help me tidy up. Your tad likes everything tidy, right?"

"Yeah" Taren sniffed wiping his tears and snot with his sleeve "How did you know?"

"I knew someone who was exactly like your tad... he died" Jack began to rock Addie in his arms trying to get her to calm down "Do you know any songs?"

"She likes that song tad used to sing to me. Do you want me to sing it?" Jack nodded his head and Taren began to sing for his sister.

It took fifteen minutes to get her off to sleep, as soon as the former Time Agent recognised the song he started singing it too. He laid her down in the cot then switched on the baby monitor

"Are you hungry? I am, I skipped lunch... let's go make something to eat. Maybe tad is awake?" the two of them went downstairs but Ianto was still sleeping.

An hour later the two of them had eaten, done the dishes and tidied up the house putting away all of Taren's toys and DVDs that he'd left out when Ianto woke up. He woke slowly to find Taren curled up next to Jack and they were watching Spiderman.

Jack looked over at Ianto and smiled, the Welshman's hair was sticking up and he looked a bit better than he did before

"Ah, you're finally awake. It's just getting to the good bit" explained Jack; he tried not to linger looking at him but he couldn't help it. He looked so good when he woke up like that, it had been the best part of the day, waking up next to Ianto and seeing him all relaxed and messy

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Bout two hours. Tad I'm hungry" the baby monitor began humming with life as Addie woke up

"I'll go" said Jack as he rose to his feet, Ianto stopped him by grabbing his shoulder gently

"No let me. Why don't you make a start on dinner? You are staying for dinner, right? You don't have to go home to... Toshiko?"

"Nope, I can stay" nodded the elder man.

Ianto brought Addie down to the kitchen so he could make up a bottle for her; without Lisa here all he could do was make bottles from the formula he'd bought. Soon his son abandoned his film so he could sit at the kitchen table

"So what have you been up to the last few days?" Ianto inquired trying to make conversation as he gave Addie her bottle

"Had an accident at the office... me, Tosh and this soldier we were... well we were essential drunk for two days. There was a machine... stuff happened we stole a donkey and the next thing we know we're all at mine in bed together"

"Like a sleepover?" laughed Taren. Ianto wasn't sure if he wanted his son hearing about this man's sexual exploits

"Yeah it was exactly like a sleepover. I love Toshiko but she's more of a best friend, like a sister... I should check in, make sure everything's okay" he pulled out his phone and called home. Everyone would have left work by now and she should have got back to the apartment "Tosh! Are you okay... you sound out of breath... wait, whose that in the background? Is that William? Hahah! Way to go Toshiko! I'll leave you too it, I'll be back late. Was everything okay at work? Good, good! I'll call you later" he hung up then went back to stirring the vegetables in the frying pan.

They sat down to pan fried vegetables with crispy grilled chicken, it was the one thing that he knew how to cook to perfection

"Will you be here tomorrow, Jack?" asked Taren trying to sound innocent but failing miserable "Maybe you could take us to the park? Could... would I be able to have a ride on your donkey?"

"It's up to your tad and sorry kiddo, I had to take the donkey back" he stated, the little boy turned to stare hopefully at his tad who caved

"We can go to the park but only if you're good and you tidy up your room before we go" he told him firmly and he nodded his head excitedly. After that dinner was a quiet affair, the only thing that broke the silence was the two Joneses giving compliments to the chef for a good meal.

His little baby girl when back to sleep after she'd had her bottle, he held her safe in his arm while he ate his dinner then took her upstairs so he could change her then lay her down for the night.

Jack was doing the dishes when he came back down and his eldest child was laying on the floor in front of the TV snoozing

"Alright, little man" he picked Taren up "Time for bed. Go on upstairs and brush your teeth then I'll come and say goodnight" his son sleepily nodded as he left the room rubbing his eyes. The young man went into the kitchen resisting the urge to wrap his arms around Jack's waist from behind "You don't have to do that, you did cook dinner"

"I don't mind"

"Want a beer? I'm having one"

"Sure" he nodded as he put the last dish on the rack before drying his hands, he took the can of beer Ianto offered and opened it

"I'll just tuck Taren in then I'll be back down, okay?"

Jack watched him disappear off upstairs and suddenly he felt all nervous, what would he and Ianto talk about? Swigging the beer he wandered into the living room and flopped down on the couch and waited for the other man to come back down. He had to wait five minutes before he came back down and dropped himself down next to Jack "Thanks for everything today, I probably wouldn't have got through it if it hadn't been for you"

"Don't worry about it... you've got really good son and Addie really is beautiful" he downed more of his beer then dropped his head back

"Thanks" Ianto couldn't help but smile as he sat facing Jack with one leg resting up on the couch "You don't mind staying do you? I mean if you wanted to go home..."

"I don't mind, no, it'd be nice to stay. I think Toshiko and William have decided to have a sleepover, it's probably best that I'm not there"

"She's cheating on you?" he gasped surprised how nonchalant Jack was about it

"What? No! Me and Toshiko aren't together... it was too soon after... after Ianto died" he confessed "I really loved him" the tension grew thick so the younger man changed the subject

"I heard you mention you stole a donkey... what was that about?"

"Tuesday. I was going through the alien tech down in the vaults and I pressed something I shouldn't have done; it was a social inebriator which scanned everyone in the room for the most potent drink we'd ever drank and recreated that effect in us which was me, Toshiko and her soldier William Spooner. We woke up two days later with no memory of what we'd done... We managed to trace what we did and it jogged some memories... we stole the donkey from the petting zoo then took it to Crufts... Spooner won second place. Then we somehow found wellington boots and me and Spooner made Tosh our Oriental Princess"

"Hahah! You're kidding" he laughed, it felt so good to laugh and it felt like it'd been such a very long time since he'd done so. He downed more of his beer then got another two, handing one to Jack

"I shouldn't be drinking after loosing the two days. I still don't even remember how we got back or why I was wearing a traffic cone on my head" Ianto snorted his drink then spat it out almost choking on it making Jack laugh out loud

"Sorry" he apologised "It's just that was so easy to picture! You! With a traffic cone on your head!" he shook his head then pushed Jack's shoulder laughing once more. Ianto was feeling at ease and now Jack was no longer nervous, they watched the TV and talked well into the night as they moved onto more cans of beer until they were both very tipsy.

Ianto hadn't realised how close he'd inched towards Jack but Jack did, with the Welshman's arm around his shoulders telling him how he was such a good friend was too close and it was making him sober up. He could smell him and it smelt like _his_ Ianto, the other man didn't seem to notice how nervous Jack was becoming and if he did he didn't show it

"I bet the other me must have been really lucky to have you" he blurted out in a drunken slur, his face was only inches from Jack's and they both fell silent staring at each other

"I should go home" Jack whispered; he'd promised that he would give up Ianto... he needed to let him go otherwise this would drive him mad. Ianto put his fourth half drunk can down on the coffee table before leaning back and cupping Jack's face

"I'm going to kiss you and you're going to stay" he ordered as he brushed his thumb across Jack's cheek making his eyes flutter

"Are you sure you want this" Jack asked still talking quietly like the spell would be broken if he didn't

"No I'm not sure... but I do know that ever since you kissed me in the lift I wanted to kiss you again" he admitted. Their eyes were locked together until his eyes looked down at Jack's mouth, he leaned forward pressing his mouth softly against the older man's upper lip before pulling back to see if it was okay. Jack just stared at him but his eyes drifted down as Ianto came in again more insistently this time crushing their lips together and sweeping his tongue begging for entrance.

He was almost fully sober but he felt light headed and dizzy as Ianto continued to kiss him passionately, their bodies slid backwards until the younger man was lying atop the former Time Agent. Fingertips slid up into his short brown hair tugging on it lightly as they made out on the couch until Ianto pulled away. He sat back, grabbed the remote turning off the TV, rose to his feet and held out his hand for Jack "Let's go to bed"

"Ianto..."

"I want it. Please... stay with me tonight"

"What about Lisa?"

"She isn't here. She made her choice to leave and I'm making my choice for you to stay... you will stay with me?" those silent moments felt like a stretched eternity while Jack thought about whether he should or not, whether this was a good idea. In the end he just nodded his head

"Yeah I'll stay" he took hold of his lover's hand and let him lead him from the room. They switched the lights off as they went and he led Jack up the stairs to his bedroom.

He kept the lights off as they undressed, he didn't know why but it felt more romantic with just the light from the street shining in through the window as he stripped Jack of his shirt and dropped his pants until they were both standing in their underwear then he lost his nerve and Jack had to take over "Lay down on the bed"

"Yes" he nodded following his lover's orders. He laid back on the bed and Jack crawled up over him until he was practically lying on top of him and they started to kiss wildly once more only this time their wandering hands wandered further than they had before when they were on the couch downstairs.

Ianto couldn't help but gasp when Jack's large hand wrapped around his growing erection, no man had ever touched him there before; only Lisa and a few fumbling girls when he'd lived in that little village. It felt so good in a bad, wrong sort of way... it was felt so taboo that made it feel good and he wanted more "More Jack more!"

"What do you want me to do?" he whispered softly, poor Jack felt like this was a fantastic dream that he didn't want to wake from, he was holding his breath afraid to do something wrong

"Just... uhh I don't know. I've never done this before... show me how I can make us both feel really good"

"You want to do it for me?" he couldn't help but be surprised, when Ianto had drunkenly invited him up to the bedroom he had expected it would be for his gratification only... he hadn't thought that Ianto would want him to get off too. The younger man nodded his head, it made Jack smile "Then please... touch me here"

Ianto's eyes rolled back in his head as he wrapped his hand around Jack's erection, his mind was screaming that this was wrong but no matter what his head thought his heart wanted it so he started stroking up and down matching the pace Jack had set on his own throbbing tool.

"Keep doing that... uhhh Jack... more. I need more..." he gasped desperately "More!"

"Do you want me to... are you sure? Are you sure that's what you want?" demanded Jack, he knew that once this happened there would be no going back

"Yes. Jack it's what I want, I need you..." the unspoken words hung in the air; Ianto needed him and _no one_ else.

"Condoms?" the other man wriggled out from under him and opened a draw pulling out a strip of three tearing one off and dropping the other two on the bed. As soon as the former Time Agent saw that there was protection he went back making out with his lover, while they kissed Jack's hands wandered down stroking further with an insistent pressure until the young man was writhing on the bed unsure whether to get him to stop or keep one making him feel like he never had before.

That decision was made from when Jack slid down and slid his mouth down his lover's painful erection while he was slipping in another finger

"Oh God Jack!" he cried aloud at how good it all felt; yeah he'd had blow jobs before but he'd never had one this good it was like Jack could read his mind and knew all the right spots to make him see stars. It made Jack smile hearing his name breathed in the throes of passion "Jack, Jack... ohhh Jack there! Right there... yes that feels so good cariad oh cariad so good" he mumbled loosing himself in his senses of feeling.

Finally finished preparing his young lover for the intrusion that was about to take place he decided that he needed Ianto to give him some attention

"Touch me again" he begged guiding his lover's hand down to his penis urging him to stroke it. Ianto did as he was told looking down for the first time seeing his partner's manhood; he'd not really looked before and now he wished he had. Jack was huge! He began to have doubts about letting himself be screwed with that monster! When he was ready he swatted Ianto's hands away and rolled the condom on, rising onto his knees to enter the other man

"Jack..." Ianto gasped suddenly terrified that he was going to get hurt

"Don't worry" he answered as he heard the scared tone in his voice "I'll look after you, I'm not going to hurt you and I'll go slow, I promise"

"Okay" he nodded finally then he slowly began to enter him. It was tight going since there was no lube apart from what was on the condom and it felt like something hot and eager filling him, the pressure was intense like a log being shoved up a hose, he was so focused on the painful burn he was feeling he completely missed that Jack was shoved so far up inside him that he could go no further

"I'm all the way" whispered the older man as he leaned over Ianto kissing and stroking his face softly "Are you okay? How does it feel?"

"Yeah..." he laughed out of breathe "It feels strange in a good sort of way... I think"

"What if I did this?" he asked moving his hips slightly making the man beneath him gasp out loudly in the dirtiest tone he'd ever heard from any lover.

Sweat broke out across Jack's forehead as he held himself back waiting for him to recover from that little roll of his hips, it took all his willpower not to pound the young man into the sheets

"More" he groaned aloud finally "Do that again" Jack was more than happily to oblige, he set out slow building the pace until he was rocking back and forth with momentum. The young Welshman was whimpering desperately when his lover slid his hands under his back pulling him up so their chests were pressed together, Ianto wrapped his arms around Jack's shoulders as he sank down even more on his lover's swollen penis. The new position didn't deter Jack's movements, he never missed a beat in his thrusting "Jack, I think I'm gonna cum... yeah oh God! Yeah... I'm gonna..."

It was the best thing he'd ever seen, his lover's face only mere inches from his with a slack expression of ultimate euphoric passion and he'd done that for him. Seeing his lover loose it completely he ended up loosing it himself and he came hard groaning into Ianto's sweat slick shoulder.

They collapsed back on the bed both breathing heavily in post coital bliss, Jack pulled the condom off getting rid of it before he recovered his shorts and handed Ianto his. Ianto grabbed hold of Jack and pulled him close curling up in his arms and felt safe and loved for the first time in a long time. Jack was more than happily to curl up holding Ianto and the two drifted off to peaceful sleep.

An hour later Jack woke up and saw that he was curled tightly to Ianto, his front pressed close to the other man's back. He sat up staring intently at him while he slept and it broke his heart, what the hell had he done?

"I love you" he whispered as tears brimmed his eyes "How the hell could I give you up?"

TBC...


	9. Chapter 9

**katwinchester: **The morning after is now... let's see how it goes :)

**Cherry-Anne Sponge: **A drunk man's words/actions are a sober man's thoughts/desires ;)

**TheWeddingFairy: **Glad you liked it. Hm made me think of sweet and sour. Sweet and sour Janto... :/ hm.

**leonale: **Thanks!

**reddevilpoes: **I don't think going slow is going to be a problem for Jack.

**Efern: **What an awesome analogy! Thanks *blushes*.

**WickedWitchoftheSE:** I learnt from the best, I only wish I was half as good writing serious slash scenes as my idolised masters are! I'm rubbish compared to them!

**SakuraKissy:** Lisa is always going to be on the horizon. As for the other TW Team Members they will be making some appearances but again waay in the future. Got to explain them in and got a really good/interesting way of doing it!

**Authors/Note: **I love forward slashes /////! Anyway this is the 'morning after'. Ultimate domesticated Jack! Sadly no apron though... Taren discovers Jack in his tad's bed and things progress from there. Toshiko and William get closer behind closed doors and Jack tells her about Stephen. There isn't that much of a warning for this part. Very mild PG-13/Young Adult for possible swearing and mentions of sexual aids. Enjoy! Oh and keep up reviewing! Please! Thanks!

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**Part Nine**

Taren woke up to hear Addie crying, he went into her room and tried singing to calm her but she wasn't having any of it. It was still early and he knew that his mam and tad would get cross if he woke them up before seven but Addie needed tad so he hurried to his parents room and opened the door only to find his tad and Jack curled up in bed together

"Tad?" he called quietly before he got his nerve up; he tried to reason with himself... he did like Jack he just wasn't sure how much he liked him for it to be okay to sleep in bed with tad. Was this another sleepover? He didn't know, there was plenty of time to ask later, right now Addie needed him to wake tad "Tad! Addie's crying!"

Jack jerked awake hearing Taren's insistent voice while Ianto stayed fast asleep, he'd had a difficult couple of days and he was still exhausted from Lisa walking out and not sleeping... the amount of alcohol he consumed last night couldn't have helped, mused Jack

"What's wrong Taren?" he wanted to know as he sat up in bed

"Addie's crying, I tried singing but it wouldn't work"

"Okay kiddo let me just put some pants on and we'll go see what the problem is" he slid from the bed pulling on his slacks quickly before following Taren to Addie's room.

The new baby girl was wriggling and crying in her cot, she almost stopped when he picked her up and he could smell her stinky nappy "Awww there, there bay! I think we've found the problem. Pass me a diaper"

The little boy passed him the nappy as he laid her out on the changing mat and unfastened her baby grow, her sobs quietened as he cleaned her up and put the fresh nappy on her before buttoning up the snaps. Taren smiled as he lifted her up and cradled her against his naked shoulder where she began nuzzling him

"I think she's hungry"

"I think so too, let's go down and get some breakfast. It's still early and I think your tad needs his sleep"

"Why were you sleeping in tad's bed?" he inquired making Jack pause, he wasn't sure what to do or say about that because he didn't know what Ianto wanted his son to know

"You should ask him when he wakes up... it's complicated Taren..." he explained then sighed "Are you angry?"

"I just want my tad to be happy. Mam didn't make him happy... if you could then that would be okay with me" he smiled then ruffled the boys' hair with his free hand before all three of them went downstairs. He laid Addiena out in the little baby seat and put it on the kitchen counter while he was making breakfast.

Back upstairs Ianto woke up alone, the bed was cold and Jack was no where in sight... he felt his heart break

"He's gone" he gasped... he shouldn't have let Jack into his bed last night; first Lisa leaves him and now Jack's gone? Angrily yanking on his dressing gown he stomped towards Addie's room to find her gone, suddenly alert and eyes wide with panic he raced to Taren's room to find that empty. He barrelled down the stairs terrified that Lisa had come and taken them when the smell of a cooked breakfast and strong coffee came wafting out of the kitchen.

Taking a few steps into the kitchen he spotted Taren kneeling on a chair that had been placed against the counter near the lower cupboards feeding Addie a baby bottle while Jack was making breakfast in the pan. Lisa never cooked, she was always too busy with a report or a file that had to be done... it was nice for someone to be making breakfast for him for a change "Starting without me?"

"You were asleep, thought it best to let you get a few more hours. We changed Addie" he nodded at Taren who was carefully feeding Addie the bottle of milk Jack had warmed up

"And I'm giving her her bottle!" he smiled happily, he looked so proud that he was being the doting big brother. The Welshman bit his lip then shook off his doubts and went over to Jack wrapping his arms around his waist as he stood at the cooker resting his head against his lover's shoulder

"Thanks" he smiled. Jack glanced at Taren who just shrugged his shoulders and gave him a thumbs up before turning back to his little sister.

"I know we were going to the park today but I need to go home and get changed, I'll be back later... it's just I need clean clothes and a shower" he explained, Ianto shook his head

"Borrow some of mine and you're more than welcome to use the shower" he answered still hugging him from behind.

*

Several hours later Toshiko was walking along the high street her boss, the man she was living with, hadn't come home last night. He'd gone to Ianto's and she imagined that he was still there, she'd heard the rumours flying round the office and hoped the young man was okay. Honestly, she was also grateful that he'd been gone all night so William could stay over... it had been a very long time since she'd been with someone; she'd been in that UNIT prison cell for six months before Jack had rescued her and the way things were going between her and Spooner sooner or later she'd have to tell him about her past.

William had come up to her office at the end of the day yesterday and invited her out for a coffee, she happily accepted and then things led on from there. She was a bit embarrassed that she had gone all the way with him on the first date but they were connected by unusual circumstances, after spending two days together in a drunken binge and waking up pretty much naked going that little bit extra didn't seem all that bad. And Toshiko had certainly enjoyed herself last night.

Last night was the reason she was walking the high street this morning, she needed supplies if she was going be involved in a relationship. William had asked her out to see a film later that night and if things were to happen she couldn't take from Jack's stash of condoms again... Jack's bedside cabinet draw had been very scary, half of the things he had in there she didn't want to know what he used them for!

Tosh turned the corner and spotted Ianto out of the corner of her eye, he was sitting at a little café table, with his son, gently rocking a new shiny pram. She was about to wave when Jack came out of the café carrying a tray; he set it down on the table, leaned down kissing Ianto chastely on the mouth before finally sitting down to share out the drinks. She couldn't help think how _right_ they looked together and it was good to see Jack smiling, hell she didn't know Ianto all that way but he looked like he was floating on cloud nine.

They spotted her as she made her way over to them. Jack pushed out the seat next to him and she happily sat down

"I didn't think I was going to see you here" she commented

"Likewise, Taren... you remember Toshiko from auntie Rose's party right?" asked Ianto re-introducing his son to the pretty Japanese lady. Taren nodded blushing as she smiled at him "And this is our daughter Addiena"

"She's beautiful" she grinned as she glanced at Jack; he'd noticed that Ianto had said 'our' instead of 'my' daughter.

"How was William?" Ianto smugly asked beating Jack to the punch of embarrassing her, she blushed bright red ducking her head nervously

"Whose William?" Taren demanded to know as he drank his milkshake, they'd been to the park and now Jack was taking them shopping to buy Taren some new toys or DVDs and some clothes for Addie

"William is my boyfriend" she explained still blushing

"Tad, will I get to meet Uncle William? He is my uncle right? Like uncle John because Rose was mam's friend so if you're my dad's friend does that make you my aunt?"

"Well, I don't really know your dad all that well" she explained Ianto suddenly got confused, his son used the Welsh version of dad... he'd never called him dad before

"Yes you do" he protested

"What are you talking about?" chuckled Ianto

"She's my aunty, right? Because he's my dad" he pointed squarely at Jack who blinked in shock and surprised, Ianto glared at him thinking this sudden mess was his fault

"What?"

"Mam left so you're going to live with tad from now on... you make him happy so you're going to live with us... right?" he glanced at his tad to Jack then back again hoping one of them would answer him

"Tarry... yes Jack did stay last night but it's difficult for grown-ups. He can't just come and live with us..."

"Why not? I like him! I like him more than mam and I want you to be my tad and I want him to be my dad!" he began to sob suddenly upset by the whole situation. Ianto lifted his son off the chair onto his knee

"I think it's best if we go" stated Jack gesturing for Tosh to join him "I'm sorry about all this"

"Don't be" he replied as he stroked his son's back to soothe his tears "Thanks for coming round..."

"Here's my number, and if you want I'll call you tonight?"

"I'd like that" he nodded, Jack cupped his cheek stroking a side burn before leaning down to kiss him softly

"Bye. Bye Taren" he bid farewell then he and Tosh linked arms and walked away.

She looked up at him as they walked down the street away from the café, she could see how hurt he looked that he was walking away

"You love him don't you?" she stated rhetorically, he glanced at her and nodded simply "Then go back!"

"I can't" he cried with a shake of his head "It's too soon since his wife left him, I want all the things Taren thought would happen but I don't want it just because he's using me to get over Lisa. I want him to want those things but I want him to want them from me not because I'll be a distraction"

"What are you going to do?"

"Give it time, it's all I can do. I didn't mean for Taren to think that I would be his dad from now on... the poor kid. All he wants is for his tad to be happy"

"Tad?"

"It's Welsh for dad. Ianto would be his tad and I'd be his dad... I'd like that. Taren's such a great kid and Addie is absolutely beautiful"

"I didn't realise you were a fan of kids" she commented as she steered him into the chemist she'd been looking for

"Only mine" he told her off-handedly not realising what he'd say, she blinked in surprise he stopped when he felt her staring at him "What?"

"I didn't know you were a father"

"I'm not" his eyes fell down "Not anymore" he continued walking but since she wasn't leading the way anymore he didn't know which aisle she had been aiming for

"What happened?"

"A long time ago I had a son and he was killed in the war... several years later I had a daughter called Alice and I... I..." he scowled, his eyes filled with tears. He stopped walking and turned to face Toshiko "She grew up and had a child of her own; a little boy called Steven and I... I killed him. I killed my grandson. I killed him right in front of her"

"Jack" the fear was evident in her tone, in her eyes and in her body language. She was terrified of him "Why?"

"To save everyone... I killed him to save everyone else" whispered Jack, so sad and so ashamed of what his done

"What do you mean everyone else? The world?" he turned around and continued walking, only glancing over his shoulder to ask her what she was looking for

"Condoms. I borrowed from your draw... sorry"

"Did you use the little pebbles?" he grinned trying to turn the situation into something completely different and once again he gave off the impression that he was harmless to her but now she knew better. Her boss was a murderer. "So you and William? Finally getting over Owen?"

"Owen?" the name made him stop and his shoulders sagged

"Never mind, forget I ever mentioned the name" he ordered her but she shook her head

"You told me that you came from another reality where your Ianto had died, was there another me in that reality? You talk to me like you've known me for years! You're trusting me with secrets... or at least things that should be secret! Did you know me in that reality?"

"Yes"

"How? How did you know me? What was I to you?"

"You were my friend, we worked together in Torchwood. In that reality I didn't work for Torchwood London but the Cardiff branch. I recruited you the same way I did here but in that reality you'd only spent six months in the UNIT prison not nine years. I had a team who worked for me at Torchwood Three; Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Owen Harper and you"

"Past tense, Jack, what happened?"

"Only me and Gwen are left alive... and I'll never see her again. I left her to come through the void into this reality; I found you and I found Ianto. Here all of you are still alive" she breathed in deeply, shock filling her

"In your reality, I died" she told herself "How?"

"You were shot... look I don't think we should really be talking about this" he didn't want to go into details. He just wanted to go home and wind down, things had happened and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

"You're right" she nodded then grabbed several boxes of condoms. Jack grinned, grabbed some himself and two bottles of lubricant before they headed to the counter to pay.

*

Toshiko had decided to get a bottle of wine so several hours later after their shopping trip they were sat in their pyjamas in the living room with a glass of red each

"So how is Ianto? You two did seem pretty cosy" commented Tosh making him smirk

"We made hot man o man love" he replied, she couldn't help but blush as her mind conjured up the thought of them two together unbidden "But I'm not sure what happens next. There isn't just the whole thing with Lisa... there's also his kids, if we do become a couple then I'd be Taren and Addie's step dad"

"Does it bother you? The thought of being a parent again? After what you did?" his face dropped and his eyes darkened

"I did what I had to. You think I enjoyed it? Killing Steven? He was my flesh and blood and I loved him! I did it because I had to and no one else would... I'd already lost you and Owen and Ianto by then, how could I just continue living my life knowing that I could have saved everyone but chose not to just because he was my grandson?"

"Sorry, I'm sorry Jack... I don't know what it means to make that kind of sacrifice. You're living with it, aren't you? Every day you live with it"

"Barely" he gasped then chugged his wine down

"What was I like? In your reality?" a change of subject was in order; things had gotten too dark for the both of them

"You were brilliant" it wasn't a compliment for her, he was talking like it was fact. In his opinion it was... she'd saved the world countless times and that last time she'd given her life "I've never met anyone with a mind as fast or smart as yours"

"Now you're just being mean"

"No" he shook his head, chugged his wine "I mean it"

"I'm going to go to bed" she announced finishing off her wine before rising to her feet

"Probably best, on Monday I want to re-evaluate every employee to see if they're doing there job. I don't like it when people try and lord it over others" she gave him a look to say that was what he was doing but he just shrugged his shoulders "Heh, it's my job and I am in charge. The reason why Torchwood One is what it is, is because of it's workers; I think it's time for an overhaul especially when they let the 456 walk all over us"

"456?"

"Something for you to look up tomorrow, I know you've missed a lot of time because of UNIT but I need you to get up to date. Have something strong on hand, you're not going to like the catch up" he explained, she just nodded then wandered into his bedroom.

He loaded up his computer and looked up what Gwen was doing, it didn't take him long to hack into her computer using the software his machine had; there were wedding pictures, baby pictures of her two kids, photos of awards she had won during her time in the police force. She was happy. He turned away from her and looked up Owen. He couldn't say the same for Owen, he'd lost it after Katie died but he got back on his feet two years after that... now he worked at a small clinic helping drug addicts and teen parents.

"Jack?" he almost jumped when he heard her speak behind him "Whose that?"

"That's Owen" he whispered, she nodded before glancing down at him

"Are you coming to bed?" he shook his head, yes, then powered down at the computer; after seeing her reaction to Owen Harper he wasn't sure he liked this reality.

Toshiko watched him sleep, he'd woken her up, she guessed it had been a while since he had done it; since the time he started at Torchwood? Since he rescued her from UNIT? Before he came through the void? It surprised her how quickly he could fall asleep and how tired he looked right before he did, like it was something terrible to be avoided. She knew that she shouldn't really be watching her boss sleeping, it was like an invasion of privacy, but he had insisted that the bed was big enough for both of them and he'd made it clear that he wasn't interested in her. No, that was reserved for Ianto, she was considered family and he didn't mess with family.

"Uhh" his heard jerked sharply in his sleep and it made her jump. What was he dreaming about? What was he seeing behind his eyes, what was haunting him? "Nuuuh"

"Jack?"

"Toshiko" he gasped rolling his head away from her, she heard him apologise in his sleep before his head rolled back to face her "Ianto... don't... not him" the desperation and sadness in his voice was breaking her heart

"Jack" she repeated trying to wake him from his sleep; he was lost in the nightmare waiting for it to end... suffering in those memories made dark by his guilt, by his pain... by all the things he'd lost and left behind unwillingly.

"No" he sobbed as tears glittered round his closed eyes "Ianto... please not him!"

"Jack!" she repeated one last time louder this time, he jerked awake sitting up on reflex reaching out for something that wasn't there. His shoulders sagged in defeat before he glanced over his shoulder at her, his eyes were shining softly with unshed tears and he lost it

"Toshiko" he sobbed, she sat up pulling him into her arms

"Shhh it's okay, it's going to be okay"

"I loved him, I really loved him... oh god I miss him so much! I miss them all so much! It hurts! It hurts more than death and more than the darkness!" she stroked his naked back trying to calm him down. His sobs eased off until he was hiccuping in her arms "I need to be up high" he decided pulling away from her to throw on his clothes "Go back to sleep. I'll be back in the morning"

"You can't go out alone!" she protested but it fell on deaf ears, he needed the cold and the wind and the dark. It comforted him more than anything else, especially when things were bleak, and it was what he needed now.

"Get some sleep" he told her before leaving. She sank back into the bed and tried to do what he asked, which meant she was awake for the rest of the night worrying if he _would_ come back.

TBC...


	10. Chapter 10

**SakuraKissy: **You'll just have to wait and see who ends up with who. Well in this universe she never found Torchwood so naturally she married and had kids. I think Jack should be Taren and Addie's dad too. ;]

**Cherry-Anne Sponge: **Thank you. Although I think that the BBC were fairly dark with Jack's life, if only had they written it a little differently... oh well :[

**mama_rocks: **A happy ending would be good... I usually do try and end things somewhat happily although it won't be all cute bunnies and fluffy cuddly puppies and shit. I'm too much of a realist.

**Efern: **Yeah life never is. But what's wrong with wanting things simple? It would sure be easier that way.

**katwinchester:** Yeah, Tosh is going to be pretty much ignored/going through the motions until it all comes too much for her. But don't worry, she'll survive :]

**Authors/Note: **No warnings for this part... nothing *major*. Some mild swearing maybe if I can remember correctly. This was actually fun to write... very gritty stuff on the roof. Also it raises the question about how Jack spent so much time on the top of buildings and no one mistook him for a suicidal person. Owen to the rescue solving Jack's internal struggle! I just hope that Taren is a believable character as a five year old kid... I don't have a younger brother only sisters but he's loosely based on them when they were little.

**

* * *

Part Ten**

After Toshiko had lead Jack off he'd decided it was best to get Taren and Addiena home. Tarry had been moody and sulky all afternoon because he hadn't had his questions answered. But how could he answer the questions his son had for him? He didn't even know what he wanted or even _felt_ himself! What did he want? Would what he wanted be good for his children? He knew that Taren wanted Jack to be a bigger role but the little boy hardly knew him... it was easy to what someone in your life that was fun and exciting, but what when the honeymoon period ended? Would he still be happy having Jack around when he was telling him to pick up his toys? Would Addiena be angry if he told her that she couldn't go out on a school night? Ianto shook his head, she was still only a baby and he was being overly optimistic to think that Jack would want to be around long enough for her to be grown up enough to want to go out!

He nursed Addie as he sat in front of the TV watching one of Taren's DVDs, anything to placate the moodiness before bed. I want to be with Jack, he thought to himself trying to establish some sort of order to his jumbled brain, but he has to accept Taren and Addie. I don't want to be married to Lisa anymore I want a divorce, the thought startled him and he liked it, he liked the strength and confidence one night with Jack had given him.

"Taren, I'm going to put Addie down for the night then we need to have a big talk"

"Am I in trouble?" he asked in his best innocent tone, Ianto shook his head giving his son relief that it wasn't going to be a telling off.

She was beautiful, even more so than her mother, with her ebony skin and big blue eyes that were drooping sleepily. He sang to her softly as he paced back and forth with her in his arms, she really was a beautiful little girl that he couldn't imagine anyone turning their back on her "I'm gonna make sure you have a full family, baby, a family that loves you"

She was asleep by the time he put her down for the night so he didn't dawdle round her room in case she woke up again, Ianto knew how much of a nightmare getting a cranky baby off to sleep was. Taren was waiting for him when he got back downstairs, the film had finished and he was sitting on the couch curled up against the left arm. Honestly he had missed the father son time he spent with his boy before Addie came; it wasn't like he was neglectful it was just that a new baby needed a lot of attention and Taren had temporarily fallen by the wayside

"Tad" he lifted his arms up reaching out for him and in that second Ianto realised that his son was still a baby too. Both of them needed him

"I'm here, cariad" he replied as he lifted his son onto his lap and sat down. He happily snuggled closer to his father seeking the comfort that only could be provided by his tad... to him his tad was his whole world and now with Addie in it, it had gotten a little bigger but he wanted it to get bigger still. He wanted tad to be as happy as his tad made him! He wanted his tad to be loved, not by some angry woman who shouted a lot, but by a man like Jack who took them to the park and bought ice cream and cuddled with tad to make him feel better

"When is Jack coming back?"

"I don't know. You really liked him didn't you?"

"He was nice" said Taren honestly "And he made you happy. You looked really happy, like when mam was out and it was just you and me. I want him to come back because he made you happy"

"There's more important things than me being happy" he explained trying to make his little boy understand "I have to make sure you're happy first"

"But tad, I'm happy when you are. I never liked it when mam shouted and Jack doesn't shout... he held your hand and bought us ice cream. He's not like mam and I don't want her to come back!" he couldn't help how his voice raised

"Mam can't come back. She made me sign a piece of paper that was called custody rights, which means that she had no right to see you or for you to see her and tomorrow I'm going to go see a man who will be able to help me get a divorce... that means that mam will no longer be married to me"

"So you can marry Jack?" his eyes sparkled with hope

"I could if I wanted to but we need to spend a lot of time together before that happens... if that happens" he stuttered then shook his head

"Like a week?"

"Longer than that, cariad, months or years... lots of weeks" he said finally to answer his son's blank confused stare

"I'd be glad if that happened. I'd be happy... I like Jack and I want him to be your wife" Ianto almost chuckled at that but he managed to bite his lip

"Are you sure you'd be okay with that? If we did decide that after a lot of weeks we wanted to be together would it be alright if he was your dad too?" Tarry thought about it before nodding his head. He was definitely okay with it!

Taren snuggled closer as his eyes drifted as slept came crawling, he sucked his thumb into his mouth and let himself fall into deep sleep with tad holding him safe in his arms. Ianto stayed sitting like that for the longest time watching his son sleep; he got the same feeling of pride from seeing Tarry sleep as he did watching Addiena in the end he stood up shifting his son so he could be put to bed too.

It hard been a long day for them and now they were asleep it was over... but he was still awake and he had nothing to do. He tidied up the living room putting the toys away then did the dishes trying to keep himself busy until he'd done everything and it was only half nine, way too early to sleep. Ianto's mind travelled unbidden to Jack and what they'd did the previous night... he'd never done anything like that before and certainly didn't want to do it again with any other man! What was it about Jack that made him feel weak and desperate but strong and confident all at the same time? Honestly, he didn't know...

"Talk. I need to talk to someone" said Ianto to himself, he grabbed the phone and speed dialled three to call his sister.

"Hello?" it was Johnnie

"Johnnie, it's Ianto... is Rhi there? I need to talk to her" he could hear his brother in law shouting for his wife to come to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Rhi... it's Ianto" he told her suddenly feeling a little silly

"Is everything okay?"

"I..." lie? Truth? You did want to talk, he thought to himself "No it's not. Lisa left"

"That bitch!" she hissed "I knew she was no good for you. What happened? Did she take the kids?"

"No she didn't want them either... she signed full custody of them over to me before she walked out. She was having an affair. Oh god Rhi neither of them are mine"

"What? Oh my God. Do you need me to come to London?"

"No. I'm okay... it's just... I did something"

"Ianto you're scaring me. What did you do? What have you done? Are you okay?"

"I slept with someone... it wasn't a comfort thing though. I'm falling for them" explained Ianto allaying his sister's fears. To say she sounded surprised was an understatement

"Was this why Lisa left? Because you slept with someone?"

"No, no... I slept with him after she left"

"Him?!" she gasped "A man? Ianto have you gone bender?"

"I think I have. I don't know... it's just him"

"So does this mystery man have a name?"

"You're not angry with me?"

"For wanting to be happy? I don't care what he's like as long as he makes you happy, he can't be any worse than that cheating bitch you married"

"His name is Jack" he grinned when he said his name and felt all giddy in the pit of his stomach "Jack Harkness and he's my boss"

"Your boss?! Oh God you're shagging your boss! I don't know whether I should tell you it's a bad idea or congratulate you for being such a girl!"

"Rhi!" she chuckled, he rolled his eyes at the funny side of it. It was then that the baby monitor went off alerting him that Addie was awake "Oh, Addiena's awake. I've got to go"

"Okay but you keep in touch you hear me. I might come and visit... it's been a while since I saw Taren and I'm dying to meet my new niece"

"I love you sis'"

"Love you too little brother" she said before hanging up. He clicked the phone off then hurried up the stairs to his crying daughter.

*

Jack looked at the stars, they were beautiful and they made him feel so small and insignificant... and really he was. When he was a little boy he used to think that the stars were all the people who had died, that their souls would go up into heaven to shine forever. Was _his_ Ianto up there? Or was that star not there because this was a different reality?

It was difficult to comprehend... Ianto was Ianto but not his Ianto but there was all the parameters for him to be his Ianto. Was that wrong? Was he being unfaithful? Jack was sure that if he stayed with him long enough it would like before he died... it hurt his head trying to sort it all out. What was worse was that one day Ianto would be gone again, he would die of natural causes and he'd have to let him go then.

"I should let him go now" he whispered to himself as he stood on the edge of the roof over looking London. If he let him go now it would hurt less... but then again he'd loose all those precious moments he would have by being with him, could he really give _that_ up? He wasn't so sure he was strong enough for it.

In the six months after his lover had died at the hands of the 456 he'd done everything he could to find a way to bring him back. When Ianto had hide Lisa in the basement of Torchwood Three he'd understood but now he felt exactly how he must have felt trying to bring her back. He hadn't really thought about anything else apart from brining Ianto back, he'd gone back to say goodbye to Gwen partly because he didn't want anything bad to happen to her by being around him and partly because he couldn't stand being reminded of all the things she meant. She represented Torchwood and all the people he'd lost and she represented all the things that he would never have.

He sighed looking down to see a police car arriving; wonder what's going on he asked himself. Jack didn't have to wait long before he figured it out, the two policemen got out of the car looking up at him before talking into their radios. Behind him he heart the fire escape door open with a bang, it would have almost made him jump if he hadn't been frozen to the spot when he saw who was standing there

"It's okay, mate, what ever it is it can't be this bad" the man said as he slowly approached him with his hand outstretched

"Oh" gasped Jack "This is too fucking cruel" he turned back to the stars to yell at them "THIS ISN'T FAIR! ANYONE BUT HIM!"

"Calm down, mate, be careful!" he called thinking this man had clearly lost his marbles; well he must have done to be standing on the edge on a twelve storey building "What's your name?"

"Jack. Jack Harkness" he replied as he turned round to face him, he glanced over his shoulder to see another police car arriving "I know who you are. You don't have to worry, Owen, I have no intention of jumping. Not today"

"Well then will you come down off the ledge?" he asked trying to avoid his fear about how this guy knew his name. He sighed as he looked down at Owen, he sat down straddling the ledge

"I'm not going to jump, don't worry, I just like being up high" he explained "It's the stars you see, you see them better high up"

"Why are you up here?"

"To think" he answered him "But since you're here I might as well talk to you, if you don't mind"

"As long as your on that ledge, mate, I'll listen to anything you have to say" he told him much to his chagrin. He was late for work and today hadn't been a good day; he'd found an old mug of Katie's with lipstick still on it in the back of the cupboard

"I know this is going to sound cruel since you lost Katie but if you left London and went somewhere else and found her... if you found Katie alive and well what would you do?"

"I'd spend every waking moment letting her know how much I loved her. Why? Who are you? Why are you asking such weird shit?"

"I came from... somewhere else... where I lost my family, my friends and my lover. You were one of my friends, you don't remember me because the you in this place never met me. I have the chance to know all my friends again, the chance to know my lover again. He's alive and he's here... what would you do if you met someone who was pretty much the person you knew and loved? Would you really be with that person or would you hold onto the memory of all you had with your version of that person before they died?"

"I'm confused" he rolled his eyes trying to make sense

"Heh" snorted Jack "If you found the technology to travel to another reality were Katie was alive and well what would you do? Would you try and be with her or would you honour the memory of the Katie you lost? The Katie who died?"

"I'd be with her" Owen nodded "In a heartbeat. I've already lost her once, I couldn't bear to loose her again. It would be her and all the memories would be made over and then more memories would be made... if I could have that then I wouldn't miss it for the world. You... you've done that haven't you? You're standing up here ready to jump when your lover is waiting for you?"

"It's more than that" he sighed and swung a leg over the edge so he wasn't straddling it anymore but sitting calmly "Turns out he's married, with two kids... it's amazing what happens when time gets away from you. I love him, I know I do, I love him with all my heart and soul but it hurts"

"Why?"

"Because he'll never be mine. He will never be the man who helped me catch a pterodactyl or brought me coffee the first morning I spent at his or the man who died trying to save the world"

"Does that really matter?" he hissed suddenly angry "You'll always hold a special place in your heart for him and I have a feeling that if he did those things for you or with you then he must have really loved you and people who love you, they tend to want you to be happy... at least that's what I've been told" he chuckled to himself

"Katie would want you to be happy and you're not are you?" he turned to face his friend who scowled

"That's none of your business"

"Fine" said Jack Harkness holding up his hands in surrender "But that doesn't change anything, she would want you to be happy... and Ianto would want me to be happy. I'm going to spend the rest of his life with him whether it be as a friend or partner or boss... you're right. I should spend every waking minute with him, I _did_ loose him once"

"Are you coming down now?" he held out his hand, Jack swung his legs back over the ledge walking calmly to the metal door jutting from the raised square block

"I wasn't going to jump. I hate coming back after breaking bones, they always take so long to pop back in"

Owen blinked at the stars, Jack had been right, you could see them better up here. He stared for a moment longer before turning to follow the path the other man had took as he made his way down through the building. He was going home to Tosh so he could get some sleep and then tomorrow he would call Ianto to see if he wanted to go for dinner.

TBC...


	11. Chapter 11

**Cherry-Anne Sponge: **Hehe, it'd be weird if I changed them all completely and as far as coffee's concerned. Addie won't be drinking coffee until she's sixteen.

**SakuraKissy: **No, Owen will be very important in this. He'll be popping up more... as for Gwen the jury is still out on her. Not sure whether to actually include her in this; she's happily unaware of Jack plus she is married to Rhys and working her way up Gwent Police force. As for Tosh, she spent nine years in a UNIT prison. That's going to have a big effect on her.

**WickedWitchoftheSE:** So do I but that's just the way things are. Doesn't mean he loves them any less and the fact that they aren't his makes him a stronger more caring person, if that makes any sense :/

**katwinchester: **Glad it made you laugh, my sense of humour has always been very dry. Yes we will be seeing more of Owen, don't worry!

**Authors/Note: **Throwing out an original character now. Partly in response to COE and because John and Rose are out there now... bound to have meddled... so here is Karroe. His name doesn't really mean anything apart from the word Praetor which is Roman. Has anyone heard of the Praetorian guard? Yes? No? If not go look them up, I think that a praetorian guard/soldier could easily work for the Shadow Proclamation. Enjoy this part and please as always review! Review! Don't make me beg, I'd enjoy it!

**

* * *

Part Eleven**

Karroe Praetor Meshtan Fief-Kane worked for the Shadow Proclamation however, despite working for them, he wasn't on their official pay role like the Judoon were. He had read all of their strictures and guidelines but didn't follow them as devoutly as they tried to preach them.

He was only three hundred and thirty five years old and for as long as he could remember he had worked for the 'outer space police' and they'd given him this ship to carry out their work and he'd completed a lot of missions for them. Usually he got in trouble for not following the strictures properly but Karroe always managed to get out of it by reminding the Chair Woman that he'd got the job done and he was Freelance.

The red planet slipped past and he was impressed at how beautiful it looked but then he saw the Sol 3 and that really did take his breathe away. Not many planets in the Universe were blue like that... he'd never been to this planet or even this part of space before and he wondered why?

"Maybe I should take a holiday here after I've returned you all?" he mumbled as he glanced back over his shoulder. His ship was only small, suited for three or four people at the moment but over the years of owning it he'd fixed it up with enough space junk to be able to tow ship capable of pulling interstellar cruise liners like the QE7 or the SS Titanic. Right now he was pulling a cargo barge full of children from Sol 3.

Orders had come in about two months ago for him to lead a squadron of Judoon to visit the Macra home world after the Shadow Proclamation had received a report that they had stolen 10% of the children from Sol 3. Two percent out of that ten had already been lost but the Judoon managed to lay them to rest and he'd left them to deal with the rest of the offenders while he returned the eight percent to their planet.

He flicked autopilot on for a moment and unfastened his seat buckles allowing his body to float up, he'd been made fun of when he'd told fellow Free Lance pilots he'd made friends with that he enjoyed the feeling of gravity. He was mostly human and he loved the way his limbs felt as he moved through the weightlessness.

Karroe twisted in the air and tipped his head back to see the blue coming closer, he always enjoyed coming to planets like this. It made him feel at peace and for one brilliant moment it didn't matter that he couldn't remember who he was or where he'd come from all that mattered was he was doing good work and he felt content. Alarms interrupted his happy mood... the people from Sol 3 were trying to communicate with him

"Unregistered ship this is UNIT; United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. You are entering Earth atmosphere, state your intent. If you fail to declare your intent you will be considered Hostile and we will shoot you down" came a strong female voice over his radio

"UNIT, I am sending a Blue Alert under the Strictures and Guidelines of the Shadow Proclamation. Awaiting for co-ordinations for my designated landing strip"

*

The phone rang, she picked it up but it continued to ring when she realised that it was her mobile she pressed connect

"Hello?"

"Toshiko, it's Jack. I need you to come into the office. We have a serious situation"

"Did you cause it?"

"No." he replied there was a pause before he corrected himself "Not this time. There's a spaceship coming to Earth, UNIT has already made contact and the pilot sent ahead Blue Alert but UNIT has no idea what that means!" she could practically see him rolling his eyes "I need you to get yourself here with that science team yesterday"

"I'm on my way" she hung up then groaned out of bed.

*

Jack had just got to the office; he'd been alerted by the secret taps he'd placed in UNIT not long after taking over Torchwood One. What with Rose and John going off into outer space he wanted to make sure he had a way of knowing when they'd come back or when they'd send a message. He knew what UNIT was like and there was a good chance that they'd intercept signals quicker than they would.

"God what I wouldn't give for a wrist strap right now" he groaned as he made his way up in the elevator. As soon as he got all this sorted out he was going to give Toshiko the plans for his strap so she could make him one; he felt a little naked without it.

Twenty minutes later his phone buzzed alerting him to Tosh's, and the science team's, arrival at the Tower. They were making their way up in the lift to his office.

The science team seemed quite groggy and annoyed that they were up here at this ungodly time of the morning but they said nothing as she ushered them into Jack's office. He was stood there with his hands placed flat on the desk leaning forward all excited

"Right, we've got a space ship coming in. UNIT declared it hostile..." he glanced at his watch before putting his hand down back on the table "Three minutes ago. Now this ship has sent down a Blue Alert which clearly states that it's not hostile according to the guidelines of the Shadow Proclamation"

"What's the Shadow Proclamation?" asked Mayhew sleepily trying to keep up with what he was being told

"Like Torchwood but for all of Space. Questions afterwards, please" he said before continuing with his speech "Now. We need to get in touch with that ship before UNIT blasts it out of the Sky. I've brought you in here because I need you to figure out what frequency it's communicating on, get in touch with the pilot and tell him to change to another frequency only we can intercept"

"Okay, let's go team" he began to lead them from the room but Jack wasn't finished

"Hold on. I'm not done! Tosh I need you to ask him what type of ship he's flying, let me know so I can tell you how big it is"

"You could have told me last night" she grumbled trying to turn it into a joke, he smirked liking her sense of humour despite the lateness of the night

"He'll need a place to land and I'm sending you and half the science time to the landing site. You'll need to check for hostile radiation and toxic chemicals before he's allowed to officially step on British soil"

"What will you be doing in the meantime?" she inquired, Mayhew seemed to gape at her outright at demanding what their boss would be doing

"Keeping UNIT from doing something really stupid. Go!" he waved his hands and they moved out to do what he'd asked.

*

"Hello? Hello is this the Pilot of the alien space ship?"

"Who is this? Is this a representative of UNIT?" asked Karroe

"No I am a representative of Torchwood. I've been asked to tell you to change your frequency then re-contact me on that new frequency so we can co-ordinate your landing"

"Good" he replied "Because I sent a Blue Alert and UNIT declared me Hostile. Considering that I am an Agent of the Shadow Proclamation, albeit a Freelance Agent, that would have brought a whole lot of red tape not to mention the Judoon to your door. Who is giving your orders?" he asked as he switched frequencies

"Acting CEO Jack Harkness" replied the voice

"Tell him it is an honour to be greeted to Sol 3 and I am Pilot Karroe Praetor Meshtan Fief-Kane of the Shadow Proclamation. Do you have co-ordinates for me to land yet? I have been travelling for a while and I'm not sure my power reserves will hold out considering the ship I'm towing"

"You're towing another ship?"

"Yes. It's a Macra cargo ship with the reported eight percent stolen children of Earth" he explained, on the other end of the line Mayhew blinked before turning to another scientist. He told her to report this information to Jack straight away.

"We're working on your landing strip, before you can officially step on British soil you will have to be scanned for any toxins or biohazards"

"Understood. I'm just returning your children to you" he explained before flicking off. He headed towards the source of the frequency believing it would be better to be over Torchwood airspace as opposed to UNIT's.

Half an hour later he was given the green light to land the Macra cargo ship then land his ship. Karroe set the large cargo container down before landing down near it.

"Karroe, we're just scanning you and the cargo. It'll be a few minutes before it's complete but I'd like to say Welcome to Earth on behalf of Torchwood and the United Kingdom" Mayhew announced, Karroe rolled his eyes as he powered down his systems. The all clear was given and he was finally allowed to leave his ship.

He opened the hatch and jumped down the five foot drop to the ground, there was a man standing there with a team of scientists in the background and pretty Japanese woman standing next to him

"I'm Jack Harkness, acting CEO of Torchwood" said the man holding out his hand, there was faint recognition in his eyes "You must be Karroe Praetor Meshtan Fief-Kane, nice to meet you... Meshtan Fief-Kane, you wouldn't be from the Horse-Head Nebula Fief-Kanes' would you?"

"No. I was given my name by the Chair Woman of the Shadow Proclamation, she named me because I was..." he trailed off unwilling to talk about his past. Jack took the hint then nodded to the large container "The missing eight percent of Children stolen from Earth by rogue Macra. I am told to give you my deepest condolences for not being in time to rescue all of them, by the time we'd received word by our mutual friend they had already... consumed 2%. The rest I was ordered to bring back to Earth and they're all in that container"

"All of them?"

"All we could rescue, yes"

"We'll need more people and we'll have to set up decontamination. This is going to be a paper work nightmare. Toshiko... I want you to find and get Owen Harper here and the medical term from Torchwood One. Owen is in charge and he's to be paid accordingly"

"Okay Jack" she pulled out her PDA and began to tap away at with it

"I think the rest of us should begin getting the names out of those kids. Maybe set up some sort of list so we aren't swamped later on?"

"Yes sir" Mayhew nodded, Jack and Karroe opened the container revealing several thousand scared children all huddled together in the dark

"Come on... it's okay. You can come out now" Jack whispered to them gently beckoning them to come out of the container "You're safe... I'd like all the boys to stand on the left and all the girls stand on the right"

The children slowly crept out of the container and did as they were told; they were still swamped ant it would take a while before they got anywhere.

It didn't help that suddenly several UNIT army trucks came tearing up towards the space ship and the container "Great, just what I need"

"What is happening?" Karroe inquired

"I'll handle this" explained Jack "I told UNIT to back off but unless they find out for themselves they're never happy and the only way they find things out is with guns!"

"They are going to shoot you and the children?" Karroe glanced back and forth but Jack just shook his head

"Who the hell is in charge of this ridiculous outfit?!" hissed the General as soon as he jumped down from the jeep that had been chasing the arm trucks

"That would be me" announced Jack, he could clearly see why the Doctor hated these sorts of outfit and with the man pretty much stomping towards him "And you are?"

"General Armand, I want to know what the hell you're doing cutting UNIT out of communication with the Hostile Alien Enemy!"

"He wasn't a hostile enemy, he was sending a Blue Alert ahead! That signifies peaceful contact! He was returning the children!" he waved his arm angrily to the thousands of children milling about in the large open space. Armand looked at the scene and scowled

"Where is this alien now? Do you have it in captivity?"

"Why would I have done that? He's not a threat!" he hissed angrily, his mind was beginning to feel unravelled... what he wouldn't give to have some coffee.

"We don't know that! I think it would be best if we quarantine the alien until further notice and I take over the investigation"

"Fine. He's over there" he pointed to the man standing near the all the children. The general nodded at his soldiers while Jack ushered Karroe and Toshiko quietly away to their car "Be quiet, don't draw attention to ourselves. Let's get out of here"

Karroe sat in the back of the primitive land mobile as Jack commanded it away from his landing strip. He couldn't help but smirk as he looked back to see the soldiers arresting Mayhew and taking control of the scene

"I hope I'll be able to come back to my ship when this all blows over" he chuckled "I'm quite fond of it. It is my home, after all"

"We'll hide out for a while until I can get this sorted with higher authority than that idiot back there" he explained, Tosh said nothing but thought it best to cancel the medical team Jack had suggested be brought in... she got the feeling that their people would just get in the way and it would be more of a nightmare

"I thought you were supposed to work together? As far as I know you're not at War with any countries" Karroe turned back to face the front of the SUV

"Working together and liking them are two different matters" Tosh commented with a small smile "I have a feeling they're going to give us hell because we took the alien"

"Alien?" Jack looked incredulous "I don't see any aliens here. I see three people riding home after a late night out... so what if only one of them was born on earth?"

"You're not from Earth? Heh, I was wondering how you knew about Blue Alerts. I sent that Alert on ahead just in case anyone here had by some miracle heard of the Shadow Proclamation... if they hadn't then I would have notified them and explained to Earth as best as I could who I was and why I was there before they shot me out of the sky. So where are you from?"

"Boe-Shane Peninsula" he told him, glancing over his shoulder to look at him before turning back to the road

"Oh, I've been there!" Karroe explained, excited then scowled "After the Teilaras Massacre in 51... You were there, weren't you?"

"I lost my father and my brother" he answered quietly

They were quiet for the remainder of the journey, they were all reflecting on their pasts. Tosh was wondering if there was any more tragedy that Jack had suffered, he'd been through so much and she was a bit scared for herself... did his existence in the universe destroy peoples lives? Should she run from him? Karroe was wishing there had been more that he could have done for Jack, he'd been on that tiny planet after the massacre... hell he'd even knew that the invasion was going to happen, everyone had known but they weren't allowed to do anything until it was too late and Jack, Jack was thinking of his father and brother Franklin and Gray Harkness who had been lost to him. It had been years since he'd seen his mother, he'd lost track of time... time meant nothing to him and he suddenly felt unbelievably homesick.

It was a small clinic... a few steps up from a GP's surgery or a Walk In Centre but not large enough to be classed as a hospital. Owen had been reamed for being late and when he tried to explain he'd gotten nothing but shouted abuse so he gave up trying and got to work. Tonight was busy, so busy in fact that since he'd walked through the door two hours ago he had been running on automatic.

So when the doors opened and that nutjob attempted suicide walked in with a pretty Japanese lady and a scruffy oddly dressed teenager all he could think about was if they had a serious injury, if not they would have to wait like all the others who had cuts or bruises or the flu

"I'm here to see Owen Harper" Jack flashed his badge

"He's busy at the moment" Rachel the receptionist explained but he ignored her and moved to go through the doors Owen chose that moment to come out before Rachel would call security

"What are you doing here?"

"I've got a very important friend who needs a place to stay" he nodded at Karroe, Owen grunted scowling at the scruffy kid

"So put him up in a hotel!" snapped the Londoner "I've got work to do!"

"Owen! It's important"

"Saving lives is important. That's what I do and if you don't mind I have to get back to it!" he turned his back to walk off

"He's become such a loser since Katie died" he sneered making the receptionist gasp in surprise and disgust at his cold tone

"I could just stay at a hotel... leave it Jack, I do not want you to fight with your friend. I brought the children back and now I'm on declared holiday until further notice, I want to experience Earth custom" Karroe explained but Jack wouldn't listen and neither would Owen who had been deeply upset by what the older man had just said. He turned back round and punched Jack hard knocking him down to the floor, Karroe pulled out his gun and aimed it at Owen effectively ending the fight before it even started.

"Get out!" he yelled to the three of them pointing to the door

"Not unless you promise to put him up for the night" Jack ordered as he rubbed his jaw and nodded at the young armed teenager

"Alright!" he yelled "Now, kid, will you put the gun away?"

"Heh it's been a while since anyone called me kid. I haven't been called that in seventy three years!" he chuckled, Tosh just blinked then shook her head why was she still being surprised by statements like that?

"Do you need me anymore?" she asked Jack, he just shook his head "I'll be at William's then. If you need me..." she walked out in search of a taxi. Karroe put his gun away in the back of his black tight worn lenim pants before holding out his hand

"Thanks for letting me stay at yours, I'm Karroe Praetor Meshtan Fief-Kane" Owen glared at the offending hand when an ambulance team came through the doors with a trolley

"What have we got?" he took charge of the situation, Karroe followed him into the emergency room and scrubbed up "Kid, get out of here"

"I'm a trained first aider, I know my way in and out of all humanoid life forms" he replied as he pulled off his black lenim jacket and tossed it aside. He glared at the young kid before he began ordering him around and _was_ surprised to find he knew what he was talking about.

Out in the waiting room Jack's phone went off. It was General Armand wanting to know what he'd done with the '_hostile_' alien enemy.

TBC...


	12. Chapter 12

**WickedWitchoftheSE:** Unit is going to be a bother... glad you liked it!

**SakuraKissy:** I'm still not sure whether I should pair Owen and Karroe together. I'm too much a fan of canon and I am still hoping that TOwen happens in this even though it's my story and I could work it that way...

**katwinchester:** Yeah he will be. There will be a reason for him being there which will explain why Suzie and Gwen make an appearance later on in the story.

**Poisoned-Thorns:** Glad you like it! And I will keep going... or at least try!

**hotflower091:** Yeah, he did. But everyone lies, there's usually a reason for it.

**Authors/Note:** Gyah!! I'm using that as an official term. Gyah! I'm up to my eyes with stories. If anyone is kind/nosy enough to read my twitter then you'll know that I'm re-writing some stuff that I started way to long ago. After I self-published ATF, I decided I wanted to finish off several original projects and get them published too. If I'm going to be any kind of author I feel I should have more than one publication and well I enjoy writing so much. At present I have The Fix, Earthboys Are Easy, Breaking 13 (Both Fanfic and Original versions), Lyko and The F6 Complex on the go! Even more stupidly I'm thinking of taking part in NaNoWriMo. I must be mad! Right now the two I'm focusing on are B13 and Lyko while going back to TF and EAE and writing little bits. I always get easily distracted... and finally I have Uni applications to do. Since my 'first' year at Leicester U was such a disaster, I'm having to go through the whole UCAS process again! Joy! But at least this time I'm sure I can find the right course for me... I've narrowed down my choices to either Cardiff or Manchester and no, I didn't choose Cardiff because of Torchwood... I chose it because if I graduate then there's the Beeb there! Yay for future career as a screenwriter/director! Anyway about this story... Karroe is very much like Jack in the flirty sense, Taren reminds Ianto of the tiring sides of parenting and Jack, Tosh and Torchwood have a lot of trouble sorting through all the returned 456 kids. Keep reviewing and enjoy!

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* * *

Part Twelve**

Ianto pushed the bread down in the toaster before getting the milk out for Taren's breakfast, he'd woken up to the sound of Ben 10 playing at a ridiculous volume downstairs... it had woken up Addie too and he'd not been happy. Honestly he was glad that today was Monday and that Taren would be going back to school

"Taren! Your breakfast is ready!" he called up the stairs before he went back to the kitchen to check the temperature of Addie's bottle. It had cooled down enough since he'd made it so he carefully nudged her with the teet, she happily drank down the milk from the bottle "Taren!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming!"

"Have a wash before you put your uniform on!" he called in response to his eldest child's voice

"I had a wash yesterday" he shouted down the stairs. Ianto marched out of the kitchen and stood at the bottom of the stairs so he could give his son 'the look', his son rolled his eyes "Fine! I'll go have another one"

He went back to the kitchen just in time for his burnt toast to pop out of the toaster; he sighed he had a feeling that today would be one of those days. All he wanted to do was get through the morning rush, get Taren to school then go to his lawyer and get the ball rolling on the divorce, if he could do that then he'd sleep happy that night.

Taren came down wearing his uniform and sat up to the table to get his breakfast when the doorbell rang

"Jack!" he grinned thinking it was his tad's friend "Tad! It's Jack! He's come for breakfast!" he couldn't help but smile too, he had wanted to see Jack again even if it meant that his son would be a handful and overexcited before school. His son jumped from his seat so he could answer the door, Ianto had to hurry to stop him

"Wait there little guy, what have I told you about answering the door?" he told him off then opened the door... and his face fell "What are you doing here?"

"I... I... I've come back" she whispered contritely as she stood there holding her suitcase "I made a mistake and... I..."

"And you what?" he hissed

"I've been staying with my mom, she talked sense into me" she summed courage up from somewhere but it withered when she saw Taren glaring at her angrily

"You'd better come in" he kicked the door open and she tentatively walked in and put her suitcase down near the door "I thought you were going to your boyfriend's?"

"I did" she ducked her head ashamed of how this had all worked out as she followed the small family into the kitchen "His girlfriend didn't take too kindly to it" he couldn't help but smirk at her, he cocked his head while Taren went back to eating his breakfast

"I see. So what... you went to stay with your mom? Let me guess she told you how stupid you'd been and told you that you should come back to fix things?"

"Yeah" she offered him a small smile as she slid closer to him hoping to hold Addie

"Well you're a bit too late for that, Lisa" he told her and she stopped in her tracks

"What?!" snapped Lisa, Taren smirked at her glad that tad had finally put her in her place

"I want a divorce... because I don't love you, I don't think I ever did and I've met someone... the kindest, most amazing person that is brilliant with Taren and Addie"

"You let some whore near my children!" she shrieked, Addiena wriggled so the bottle slipped from her mouth and she let out the loudest cry he'd ever heard her do

"One, they aren't your children anymore! They're mine children because you signed custody of them over to me permanently and two... Jack isn't a whore" her eyes went wide in disbelief and rage

"You fucking fag!"

"Get the hell out of my house! Go back to your mom's, you made this mess and now you need to live with it because I sure as hell don't want to. Now get out" she turned hurrying to grab her suitcase on her way out

"You'll be sorry! I'll make you sorry!" she yelled as she stormed out slamming the door behind her. Ianto watched her go from the kitchen window, as soon as the door banged shut Taren jumped from his chair and dived at his dad for comfort

"It'll be okay, Tarry, I promise" but honestly he wasn't sure it would be "Come on now, finish your breakfast so we can get you to school"

"Uh'kay tad" he whispered and went back to the table but he just played with it until Ianto told his son to get his socks and shoes on while he put Addiena in the car seat.

Ten minutes later they were out to the car, apart from all the upset with Lisa causing trouble, it had been a normal school run. He put the radio news on so he could hear the traffic report and catch up with what had been happening in the world; it wasn't that he didn't love his children he just missed adult conversation and the radio was something small to fill that void

"UNIT spokesperson General T Armand has just released a statement about the returned children" said the presenter on the news show

"They were returned at 2.17 this morning by a creature of unknown origin. We suspect that this alien entity that returned the children is not from the same planet as the 456 but we are not ruling anything out. Due to interference by other companies the alien creature has escaped our quarantines so if the public sees anything unusual please contact authorities immediately and leave it alone until the proper help arrives. The children will be going through decontamination and medical checks before we can return them to their families; tragically through only eight percent of the 10% taken from Earth have been returned. We are still unsure why this has happened and are seeking answers. No questions and no more comments"

Ianto couldn't believe what he was hearing, this would mean so much celebration that the children had been returned but he felt sorry for the parents who wouldn't be getting their children back. His phone rang and he pressed the button for it to divert to his headset

"Hello?"

"Ianto!" it was Jack "Have you heard the news about the returned children?"

"Yeah, just now. I was listening to the news... you didn't have anything to do with this did you?"

"Partly. I didn't bring them back... but I did make sure they got here safely. That idiot of a general was going to shoot them out of the sky! I had to sneak Karroe off to a friend's for safe keeping till I sort all this out"

"Karroe?"

"The _alien_" he rolled his eyes at his partner for not keeping up "So I was thinking since this is a cause of celebration I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me? You know... the usual cliché date? Dinner? A movie... maybe some dancing?

"I'd like that. I've also got something to celebrate"

"What?"

"My divorce" he told him and the line went quiet

"Ianto... Ianto I'm sorry..."

"Don't be I'm not. I'm the one who decided on it, I don't want to be married to Lisa any more... I need closure, we've been over for a long time but I've been deluding myself. I want to celebrate you giving me the stones to actually be a man"

"Right..." Jack nodded to himself "So, tonight good for you?"

"How about tomorrow? I'll need to get a babysitter in..." since Addie had been born he'd not left her alone. He mentally went through the list of all the people he trusted and then how many of them had kids; the list was pretty small.

"What about Toshiko? I could ask her if you like? It'll only be for a few hours... I'm sure she could handle it"

"I'll think about it" said Ianto finally as he pulled up outside Taren's school "If you're not busy how about we go for lunch?"

"Definitely, you bring the coffee and I'll bring the food. I'll see you then... bye" he hung up the phone and he clicked his headset off before turning in his seat to see Tarry sitting there with a cheese eating grin

"You be good at school and I'll pick you up later"

"Are you and Jack going on a date?"

"Maybe... come on! Before your bell rings!" he waved his hand as Tarry opened the door sliding from the car and run through the gate towards all his friends in the playground. Ianto sat watching until the bell rang for all the children to file into class then he headed into the city to talk to his lawyer.

*

Karroe looked round the small messy apartment and nodded appreciatively, it wasn't as bad as soon of the places he'd been forced to live in during missions he'd received from the Shadow Proclamation and it would more than meet his needs

"Make yourself at home" the other man said as he gestured round the apartment, he began mumbling to himself "I don't even know why I'm doing this"

"I thought you were friends with Jack?"

"Hardly know the man" he replied "So... are you his nephew or... how do you know him?"

"Met him this morning, I would have been happy to stay at my ship but apparently I'm a hostile enemy. It's all a bit confusing to me..."

"Great so you're a stranger of my stranger! Wonderful! I've let an armed stranger into my home... how the hell did he talk me into this?" he grumbled to himself as he made up the couch into a form of a bed

"Is that where I'll be sleeping?" Karroe inquired as he pointed at the couch, it looked inviting, Owen nodded. The younger looking man shook off his jacket before pulling his shirt off over his head revealing a painting of scars brush-stroked over his torso

"Christ!" gasped Owen as he saw the amount of scars on the boy's body, some of them were still pink and scabbed over and others where large shiny white lines mapping his skin "Who the hell did all _that_ to you?"

"What?" he looked down trying to see what he was talking about but came up blank

"You look like you've been beaten by a rhino for breakfast" he commented, Karroe nodded finally understanding what he was talking about

"Oh. My scars? I'm a Freelance agent for the Shadow Proclamation, I work with the Judoon a lot... they're not exactly the most patient of creatures. Some of them are from raids gone wrong... and heh, some are from lovers... I once dated a She-Sycoraxx... man she could rock the bed!"

"You've had lovers? Don't bullshit me kid, you're only twelve" he sneered, Karroe just smirked and shook his head

"I'm three hundred and thirty five years old... give or take a few years. But sometimes I go with twenty two when I'm on planets that aren't that advanced" he explained then he wriggled out of his lenim pants until he was standing in blue and green cheque plaid shorts with the gun still wedged into the waistband"Are you going to stare all night?"

"Sorry" he looked away nervously, his mouth felt dry all of a sudden

"Don't be, I take it as a compliment. If people stopped looking then I'd get worried... so, what about you? You've been asking loads of personal questions about me, I think I've earned the right to know about you" he walked slowly towards the old looking man

"Not gonna happen, you're the guest here... I think since I'm letting you stay I've earned the right to know about you and where you come from. How did you know all that stuff back at the clinic? Where did you learn it?"

"I had to know how to patch people up to get the job with the Shadow Proclamation so I went to the Sisters of Plenitude and they trained me" he turned away from Owen and sat down on the couch stretching his legs "This is comfy"

"What is the Shadow Proclamation, you keep mentioning it" he flopped down at the other end of the couch sitting on the blanket he'd laid out

"The Shadow Proclamation governs the universe, there are guidelines and strictures to prevent war, theft, murder... all sorts of negative activity. That's not to say that it doesn't happen but we usually pick up the pieces if it does"

"So you're cops... right?" he shook his head rolling his eyes, he still wasn't used to the fact that aliens existed. Owen had always thought that it was bollocks hoaxes and mass kidnapping, he'd never really given credible thought to the idea that they weren't alone in the universe "Outer space cops?"

"Yep" he nodded, he turned crawling along the couch towards Owen "I even have the handcuffs, want to see them?"

"I don't mess with kids" he spat angrily, despite wanting nothing more to teach the space cop a good lesson. After Katie had died he'd dragged himself off the rails and was only now managing to keep himself on the wagon, he knew that if he stepped off for a moment he'd lose everything he'd worked so hard for.

"This says otherwise" Karroe dropped his hand roughly on Owen's jeans making the man jump up away from him "Fine... I can take a hint. I think I'm going to like this planet"

"How long are you staying?"

"As long as I want" he replied with a casual smirk

"When all this has been sorted out you can go stay with Jack..." he left the room heading into his bedroom and shut the door leaving Karroe alone. He sighed then picked up the remote control, he wasn't sure what it was for so he pressed the on switch and the TV came on. It was still on the last channel it had been on and now there was a romantic film about a woman falling for another woman

"Nice" he nodded in appreciation.

*

He had the baby car seat in one hand and two strong coffees from Costa in the other as he rode the elevator up to the top floor, Jack's floor, the doors opened and several people hurried past him. It was red tape all the way with all the employees working flat out to sort out the new situation they were in. Jack was in and out of his office answering calls, giving orders and trying to run everything; the former Time Agent seemed to be in his element despite the busy atmosphere he was in. His excited smile grew even bigger when he saw Ianto

"Hey" he grinned, he stepped into his space putting his hands on his hips "Didn't think you were coming"

"Ah, there was a queue at the shop" he nodded at the coffees he'd brought

"Jack, it's the General again. He says that he's cleared all the decontamination and he's ready to move the children to medical testing" Toshiko held out a phone but he didn't take it

"Good. Do we have the list of all who've been returned yet?"

"He's sending it over"

"Right, tell him that UNIT needs to stand down from their alert and when the list comes in I want you to send a copy to all Fleet Street, the world needs to know that their children are back safe and sound. Send it along with the message that their children are back and they're being checked over before they'll be returned to their families..."

"Okay" she put the phone back to her ear, listening to the General on the other end. Jack tried to usher Ianto and Addie out of the office before Tosh noticed "Jack! Wait! He wants to know what you've done with the alien; he says if you don't tell him that he's going to impound Torchwood and temporarily shut us down"

"Tell him I'll... oh here give me the phone. General!" he glanced at Ianto holding up one finger "Yes I understand that, it was a surprise to me too... but I wasn't the one who allowed the children to be taken. That was UNIT when they cut us out of it, now you're surprised that we're doing the same? No, not unless he's given immunity. Well then I can't tell you! He's an agent of the Shadow Proclamation, if you declare him hostile he'll report it to his superiors and they'll declare war on Earth and believe me you don't want to do that. Look, he came here peacefully... he returned the children who had been stolen, that's got to be worth something, right? If you stand down then I'll bring him to you and maybe talk of Earth seeking council with the Shadow Proclamation could take place? Well because they're the biggest protecting force in the Universe?!" he rolled his eyes angrily planting a hand on his hip "No. No. No... I understand... yes I know he's not going anywhere without his ship but you don't understand... he has technology... no it's no threat! UNIT has no right to impound his ship like this! It's alien technology and it belongs to us by law... yes I know it's a bad loop hole but you're just going to have to get used to it... no, I'm not assisting his escape. He isn't a prisoner and he certainly isn't a threat... yes, if he wants to leave on his own free will then I'll happily let him. If you don't like it! Tough!" he hung up the phone handed it to Tosh "Hold the fort until I come back"

"Where are you going?!"

"To lunch" he replied as he gently grabbed Ianto's elbow and lead out of the building. Toshiko rolled her eyes but continued barking orders while typing out her own paperwork.

They settled at a small bistro around the corner for lunch, he settled the car seat in a chair and lifted out his little girl so he could give her the bottle he'd made earlier

"Are you sure you're not too busy for this?" he asked once she settled in his arms "I mean you did look really busy"

"For you? I travelled through the void to be with you, paperwork can wait" he waved it off as he rested his elbows on the table

"It's pretty exciting, though, all those children coming back" he commented "I was lucky... Taren wasn't one of the ones taken. I was in Wales with my sister when it happened, we were in the countryside so they never got us"

"Eh for me it's just a nightmare, I'm going to be typing this up for weeks to come!" his cell phone buzzed, it was Toshiko sending him a message saying that the General had backed down and had agreed to finally hand over control to Torchwood. He couldn't help but smile as he slipped his phone back into his pocket

"Good news?"

"I'm in charge of everything now, Karroe won't have to stay with Owen much longer. I'll be able to put him up in a hotel... I'm sure there's a big welcome for the man who rescued the children from the 456. But enough of that, did you go see your lawyer?"

"Got the ball rolling... I never mentioned it this morning but Lisa came back. She wanted me to take her back" he explained watching the other man go pale and look unsure

"What did you do?"

"Told her that I didn't want to be married to her anymore and that... well that I had you. I do have you don't I?"

"Yeah" Jack said as he reached across the table to put his hand over Ianto's "There's something I need for you to know..."

"What is it?" he replied nervously feeling like Jack was going to reveal that this was a big joke, but by the look on his face whatever it was, was serious

"In the other universe... before he died, Ianto told me he loved me. I never got the chance to ask him if it was because he was dying or if he really did love me, that's something I'll always regret... along with never saying it back. He died not knowing that I loved him... so when I say this, it's not to _you_ yet but to my Ianto, the man I lost. I love you"

"I don't think he died not knowing that you loved him, I think that might have been why he could let go" he narrowed his eyes in the sunlight and Jack just nodded as tears shone in his eyes

"Thank you"

"I just hope one day, you'll have been long enough to be ready to say that to me" Addie finished her bottle so he put it down on the table and lifted her up against his shoulder to burp her "Not that I want you to say it yet"

"Sure" nodded Jack "So... dinner and dancing? I was thinking Italian? If you like Italian?"

"You know I do, I think this is a bit unfair. You know all this stuff about me because of the other Ianto and I know nothing about you"

"What do you want to know?"

"Where did you come from? When were you born? Who were your parents? Did you have any brothers or sisters? I don't even know how old you are!"

"I'm one thousand eight hundred and forty years old, I had a lot of time to work it out when I was in space. I came from Boe-Shane Peninsula and I was born in the 51st Century. My mom's name was Mylar and my dad was called Franklin, I had a little brother called Gray but my dad and my brother are dead. I don't think I'll ever see my mom..." he trailed off as he realised that his mom in the other universe would never see him ever again, she'd never know why he never came to visit, he felt a keening pain in his stomach "When I was fifteen I got head hunted by the Time Agency, I left Boe-Shane as soon as I could. I was running away... all the memories were too much. I was at the Time Agency until I was twenty five then I woke up to find that two years of my memory had been erased so I left the Time Agency and used my training to con people"

"You're that old? Wow, that is... that's... you're old and you're a con artist? "

"Yeah, not proud of it. I was conning people for five years when I met the Doctor... my Doctor and that's when I first met Rose. She did something to me and now because of it I can't die"

"So you'll see me grow old?" Jack couldn't help but blink

"Ianto" he gasped desperately thinking of one of the last conversations he had with the man before he died, it hurt his heart "Please... don't... can you never say that again?"

"He said it didn't he?"

"On the day he died" he whispered sadly, Ianto looked away squinting in the bright sunlight

"I know you love him but could you not compare him to me? I'm different to him..." the last few words he spoke in a whisper

"I'm sorry" he bowed his head feeling shame which made Ianto feel guilty so he reached across the table putting his hand over Jack's

"Tell me more about yourself, please? What do you like to eat?" he tried to coax the conversation back to life

"I like Chinese... Chula Nutrient, Fluorine and Serum... those sausage squid things you get in the Vegas Galaxies"

"This is going to be high maintenance, isn't it?" chuckled Ianto as he shifted Addie back to the car seat where the slowly drifted off to sleep "Food you like on Earth, I want to be able to surprise you sometime"

"Anything really" he nodded, Ianto reached across the table to hold his hand and they sat there for a moment just staring at each other "I like this"

"I do too... I never thought I would, I mean ever since that time in the elevator" he rolled his eyes "And your aftershave"

"Pheromones, I smell like this naturally..." he replied quickly "Can I kiss you?"

"You should" he nodded as his mouth turned up into a warm smile. Jack leaned forward reaching across the table cupping his boyfriend's cheek with his free hand then kissed him softly

"Oh I don't believe that! And in public! You should be ashamed of yourselves!" they broke apart to see an angry woman standing there looking disgusted and outraged

"Funnily enough I'm not, you should be glad all we were doing was kissing... in public. You should see what we get up to when we're alone!" her eyes went wide and she stormed off in a huff complaining about the 'youth of today' Jack just grinned surprised that Ianto had had the balls to tell her off. He certainly was becoming confident! "Do you have to get back to work?"

Jack glanced at his watch then nodded unable to help the frustrated sigh that tumbled from his mouth, he didn't want to go back to work... he wanted to stay there with Ianto and Addie.

"Looks like I'll have to" he explained as he rose to his feet "Once I have all the paperwork for this sorted and this assignment is over I'm re-evaluating all employees. I want to set up a team, my team, and I want you there. Toshiko isn't meant to be a secretary, I'm going to make her head of science... I want you to be my assistant. Assistant to the CEO, sounds kinda cool, right?"

"Is this because I'm sleeping with you?" he demanded seriously keeping his face straight

"Partly..." he was being honest "Partly because I want you around me and I don't think that there's anyone better for the job. Do you want it?"

"Yes" nodded Ianto then he smiled "Thank you"

"I'll see you tomorrow, call you tonight?"

"You better" he replied as Jack leaned down to kiss him again, only this time with a little more passion.

TBC...


	13. Chapter 13

**katwinchester: **Owen and Karroe living together is brief.

**hotflower901: **Of course ;]

**WickedWitchoftheSE: **I'm not very nice to UNIT...

**leonale: **glad you like it! :]

**reddevilpoes: **Jack knows they're not the same but it's so easy to take it all at face value. If it looks like a Ianto...

**SakuraKissy: **Can't kill her, got plans up my sleeve for her.

**Camile12345: **Thank you, as far as stories go... I love writing, I'd go mental if I only had one thing to write!

**Authors/Note: **I've been grieving for Ianto again lately, everything seems to send me into a fit of tears. So I gonna spend some time on The Fix to try and cheer myself up... I just had an idea about COE and I'm going to work it into this... I'll give you a heads up, it's not going to be pretty when I get to it. About this part... Karroe is safe from UNIT now, he doesn't have to stay with Owen anymore. Jack takes on the role of 'Captain' and gets in a pissing contest with a UNIT General, Owen gets roped into Torchwood and is giving a job as chief medical consultant... will he take it? The novelty of having a new baby sister quickly wears off for Taren and parenthood tires Ianto. I think I don't have to ask anyone to review anymore... but I will anyway ;] enjoy!

**

* * *

Part Thirteen**

Owen got a call from Jack telling him to bring Karroe to Canary Wharf, how Jack had his mobile number was bugging him since he didn't give it out. Who the hell was Jack Harkness and why the hell was he butting into his life now? He was just glad that the weird kid would be off his hands and would stop trying to bed him.

It was quite busy at Canary Wharf there seemed to be a lot happening, there was news crews parked outside along with several cars bearing international flags. Owen escorted Karroe into the building where Toshiko was waiting

"Toshiko" Karroe smiled when he saw her standing there

"Nice to see you again Karroe, the general is looking forward to meeting you" she shook hands with him

"I'll leave him with you, then, shall I?" Owen stated as he put his hands on his hips. Tosh blinked at him then sighed; trust Jack to not tell him

"Jack wants to see you before you meet the General. Both of you" she explained "Please follow me"

She led the way to the elevator and they went up to find Jack waiting for them both, he looked pleased to see them

"It's like the teams' all back together. If only..." he trailed off not wanting to think about it "Anyway come on" he led the three of them into the main room of the penthouse office

"It's about time" snapped the general moodily "I take it you must be the alien... friend who returned the children"

"I'm Karroe Praetor Meshtan Fief-Kane, nice to meet you" he held out his hand, the general stared at it for a moment "I thought it was customary on Sol 3 to shake hands?" he glanced at Owen who just shrugged not wanting to be there. In the end Karroe just let his hand drop

"Sol 3?" the general repeated completely missing the hostile look Karroe sent his way

"It's what we call your planet" he answered smoothly

"And who are you? What planet do you come from?" he demanded, Karroe turned to look at Jack and crossed his arms

"I didn't think this was going to be an interrogation" he commented, the other man shook his head glaring pointedly at the General

"It's not. I think we should continue this in my office" he ushered them into the large spacious office offering them seats. The general rudely took Jack's seat and sat down putting his cap on the desk

"I'm required by my superiors to find out as much as possible about you and you're kind. As far as we know this may be another ploy by the 456"

"Do I look like I'm Macra?" hissed Karroe "I returned those children because I was under orders from _my_ superiors"

"Who are your superiors? Who do you work for?"

"Enough!" Jack yelled finally getting them to stop their shouting match "This meeting is to be civilised!"

"I work for the Sisterhood of the Shadow Proclamation. I am a freelance agent that picks up grunt work from time to time, mainly I spend a lot of time on my own travelling the universe in my ship visiting planets"

"Why?" asked Owen, speaking up for the first time. It was still a bit of shock for him that aliens existed and that he was standing in the room with one, two if Jack counted as being alien since he was born on another planet.

"Because I want to. I have my reasons" he scowled not wanting to talk about his past; it was a sore subject and even _he_ didn't know all of it

"So how did you come to have all the children?" the general clasped his hands in front of him on the desk

"The Shadow Proclamation called me in, gave me the orders to return them after rescuing them from the Macra. I did what I was told, went in and got them while the Judoon dealt with the Macra who had stolen them"

"What are Judoon?"

"They are the main policing force for the Shadow Proclamation. Are you getting this all down or do you want me to start taking notes?" he asked, Owen scoffed in his corner and Jack smirked

"I see sending you home with him was a bad idea" he joked "He's rubbing off on you"

"Sadly there was no rubbing. Not that I didn't try" he shot back

"You're just not my type" Owen commented and Tosh couldn't help but chuckle

"Can we get back to this?" demanded the general not appreciating the banter between them "You said that Macra had the children, what are Macra?"

"Macra are crustacean like creatures, they resemble your spider crabs but on a much bigger scale. They live off gases which are toxic to humans... I don't know why they knew about human children giving that kind of effect to them but they figured it out and wanted a big score. It was only a small faction of Macra that had taken the children so they'll be punished accordingly; they're probably all dead by now. Are you going to return the children to their families?"

"No" he shook his head

"What?" snapped Jack

"Those children needed to be tested for any infections they made have picked up and after that they've all been in space and on another planet... we need to question each and every one about their experiences and any possible advantage they may give us over the Macra enemy"

"But you don't have a Macra enemy anymore. The ones responsible have been punished and if you try and advance yourselves against a planet that is reasonably peacefully then that's a direct violation of Shadow Proclamation strictures!"

"General you can't keep the children, they need to be checked over medically then returned to their families!" yelled Jack "UNIT can't do this!"

"I've spoken with the President Winters and he agrees with me. We have our backing" he rose to his feet

"No. I won't allow this! I can't! You were stupid enough to give them the children in the first place, I will not let you continue to destroy their lives!"

"You have no say in the matter Mr Harkness" he told him as he put his cap under his arm moving to leave. Jack scowled deeply then put his hand on the General's chest stopping him

"That's Captain Harkness" he corrected the man then let him walk out. As soon as the general had left he turned to Tosh "He's not to leave the building, I'm sure we've got holding cells somewhere. Have William and the other security soldiers intercept him and make him comfortable in his own holding cell. Owen... I'm sorry to do this but I want you in charge of the medical team checking that the children are alright"

"After what I heard that arrogant bastard yacking on about it's no problem" he answered

"Good... Owen the medical floor is on..."

"Fifth" Tosh told him as she tapped away with her PDA

"Take this, round them up and tell them they have to be ready to go to the site immediately" he handed him a pass and a quickly scribbled note "If they give you any trouble, get their name and tell them they're fired"

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to get onto all and every news source and tell them exactly what President Winters was planning to do then in the wake of that I'm going to contact UNIT and demand full control over this situation. They'll have no choice but to give it to me"

"What do I do?" asked Karroe speaking up for the first time since Jack started giving orders

"What do you want to do? You could go with Owen and help out if you want? Or do you want a tour of the city? See a bit of Sol 3? I could call Ben and get him to give you the Londoner's Tour?"

"I wouldn't mind seeing a bit of London but maybe later, I'll give Owen a hand" he nodded at the young cockney who just rolled his eyes.

*

"Tad!" Taren yelled excitedly as he ran out the school gates to meet his tad who was waiting for him. Ianto picked up his son hugging him happily

"How was school?"

"Good" he beamed as he was carried to the car

"What did you do?"

"Stuff" came the short reply "Is Jack coming round tonight?"

"Tomorrow" he told his son as he buckled in him the back seat next to Addie's tiny sleeping form, Tarry sneezed twice then wiped his nose on his sleeve "Are you okay? You're not coming down with something are you?"

"I'm fine, tad" Ianto pressed his hand to his son's forehead but Taren wriggled, pushing his hand away "Honest. I'm fine! When Jack comes is he going to stay over again?"

"I don't know. Maybe... if he wants to stay over" he shut the car door then slid into the driver's seat, as soon as he was in the boy continued with twenty questions

"What time is he coming over? Will he bring me a present? Will he bring Addie a present? If he brings her one then I want want as well"

"You know he's not always going to presents, that's not what he's there for" he pointed out as he drove turning the corner with ease

"I know" he nodded, his dark brownish frizzy curls bouncing "It's just if he brings me a present then that means he thought about me. I'd like it if he thought about me... that means he's like you coz you think of me and buy me toys but not all the time"

"You really want him to be your dad too don't you?" he whispered "Is it because I'm not good enough?"

"No!" shouted Taren so loudly Addie woke up "I'm sorry tad, I didn't mean it like that and I didn't mean to wake her up"

"That's okay, you play big brother to her until we get home okay?"

"Okay" he nodded reaching out to hold her tiny hand and soothe her from crying.

They got home five minutes later and by that time Addie was screaming her lungs out and Taren wanted nothing more than to get out of the car to get away from the noise. It was nice having a new baby sister but not when she screamed like _that!_

"Tad! Make her stop crying! She's making my head hurt!"

"Go upstairs and get changed" he ordered his him as he unbuckled the seatbelt. He lifted the car seat out and carried it into the house following Taren. Ianto set down the seat then lifted Addie out "There, there baby... it's okay Addie. Taddy's here. There, there now, shhhh"

She settled down after he gently cradled her in his arms rocking her softly soothing her, he couldn't help but smile at her "You just wanted to be held didn't you?"

"Tad, can I watch cartoons? Addie isn't going to start crying again, is she?" he poked his head around the door; his tad just smiled and shook his head so he came bounding in putting the TV on and sliding down onto his knees in front of the box.

"You can watch an hour of TV then I went you to tidy your room then wash up before dinner. What do you want to eat tonight?"

"Spaghetti with the green stuff that tastes nice" he said as he lay on the floor staring up at the TV

"Okay... Taren, I'm going to take a quick shower so I want you to keep an eye on Addiena. If she starts crying then come and let me know okay, I'll be quick" he explained much to Taren's dismay

"But tad! She'll cry!"

"No she won't! It's only for five minutes" he replied as he fastened her back into the yellow baby seat then put the soft toy jungle gym over the chair distracting her with the soft and shining toys swinging in front of her.

He hurried up the stairs pulling off his shirt, he was exhausted! Today had been a long day, he'd spent most of the day with lawyers answering questions and the other half was looking after his kids. Ianto was glad that he'd be having a night away with Jack tomorrow night, not only would he enjoy seeing him but he'd have a brief reprieve of being a full time parent. Jeans off, grab a towel then dive in the shower... damn, it's cold. Oh well, it's for the need to be clean, he thought to himself as he washed his hair quickly letting the water run everywhere it needed to then he jumped back out drying off quickly. He had dinner to make and a story to read and kids to put to bed; he wished that he wasn't doing this on his own! And tomorrow he'd get up and it'd start all over again.

*

The next morning he woke up to Taren bouncing on the bed excitedly before diving onto his stomach

"Jack's coming today! When is he getting here? Since he's coming can I stay off school?" he asked in a rush off questions then the baby monitor went wild, Ianto groaned grabbing Taren up holding him on his shoulder as he made his way to Addie's room. Stinky nappy.

"Go and put the kettle on. I need to make a bottle for your sister"

"But tad! You didn't answer me!" he protested, Ianto glared at him before sighing deeply then lifted his little girl out of her cot

"He's getting here at eight. He's bringing Toshiko to keep an eye on things and no you cannot stay off school"

"But you're staying off work!"

"Taren! I'm off work because I have to look after Addie. She's just a baby and she needs me to look after her, do you want to look after her and change all her stinky nappies and give her bottles?"

"No" he looked down ashamed "I'm sorry, tad"

"It's okay. Maybe this weekend Jack could take you to the park while I finish off some paperwork? Would you like that?"

"YEAH!" he shouted jumping up from his seemingly down mood

"Good, now will you please put the kettle on?" it wasn't just for Addiena's bottle it was for a mug of coffee... really strong coffee.

The day passed pretty much the same way it did yesterday only he didn't see Jack, although he did receive a phone call at lunch from the former Time Agent

"Hey, how's things" Jack asked him, Ianto just sighed "That bad, huh?"

"Parenthood is taking it out of me. I'm exhausted... Taren's being difficult about school and Addie's always crying!" he didn't mean to start crying but he couldn't help it "I just wish it wasn't so hard"

"Hey, hey, hey shhh. It's okay. Do you want me to come round?" the Welshman sniffed his tears away summoning courage from some unknown place

"No, no that's okay. You don't have to" he told Jack as he shook his head

"You know that I'll be there for you. That I'll always be there for you, whenever you need it" Jack didn't think that that was all that much but to Ianto it was enough

"I know. Thank you"

"I um, I just called to let you know that I made reservations for tonight. There's this nice place that does the best... oh, did you find a baby sitter?"

"Well I... I'm not sure it's best leaving Addie alone with someone I don't know"

"You need a break. I'll bring Tosh over, I'm sure she'd look after Taren and Addie for you and if there's any problems she'd call you immediately oh and you do know her"

Ianto was still unsure, he bit his lip as he thought about it but then he decided yes he was going to let her babysit for him. He hadn't been out with proper adults in so long... Rose's goodbye party didn't count because Lisa had dragged him

"Okay. You're coming over at eight, right?"

"Is eight alright with you?"

"Yeah it's fine. Would you be able to do me a favour?"

"Sure? What is it?" Jack replied agreeing to it before even knowing what it was

"Would you take Taren to the park on Saturday? Just you two, he was giving me a hard time about you this morning and I promised that you'd take him"

"Hard time? Does he not like the idea of you being with anyone other than Lisa?" Jack was so transparent at times, Ianto could hear his feelings clearly in his words

"Don't be silly. You're his new best friend and hero" he told him with a shake of the head "I'm a little jealous he wants to spend more time with me than you"

"Now whose being silly?" chuckled Jack on the other end of the phone "We're sending all the returned children home today. We've released the list of names for all of them and their parents are all on the way to pick them up. It's going to be a nightmare with paperwork, we're having to put up some of the parents who are coming from other countries and help them get return flights. I'll be glad when this is all over. Why don't you come with us on Saturday? We can make it a family day out"

"Family, eh?"

"Whu... I meant... well"

"That's a good idea Jack. I'd like that... but you will spend time with Taren, play football or something?"

"I promise" he agreed "Oh I have to go. Pete's here, see you later"

"Bye"

TBC...


	14. Chapter 14

**ken627:** Lisa will be away for a while. Glad you like the kids, I kinda base them on my sisters when they were little.

**SakuraKissy:** Lisa and who? I'm all for that kind of anti-canon action, just I don't know who the 'HE' is :/

**katwinchester:** I know what you mean. The COE idea is going to be very gritty and I've still not decided who it's going to be. It'll all make sense when it's written :/

**reddevilpoes:** We women can keep it together and yes I do think that we can keep the Judoon in line. We are the kick ass half of the species after all ;]

**hotflower901:** Yeah it is. Someone has to do it... and well it is Jack!

**Authors/Note:** I'll start of by saying that there's a bit of naughty stuff towards the end of this part. I want to apologise for it, not because it's there, but because I feel that it's poorly written and not up to my standards. I was rather hormonal when I wrote it, so prolly not the best time to write stuff like that :/ overall I had an idea in my mind what I wanted to happen and I didn't have the heart to change it in case I made it worse. So it's stayed as it is and I hope you enjoy it. Jack and Ianto get ready for their 'date', yes I've reached Date!Janto. I feel a little silly. Tony Tyler is one of the kids returned and Pete Tyler comes to claim him, Karroe embarrasses himself in front of the returned 456 kids and Jack tells Karroe why he's in that reality. Thanks for all who reviewed and y'know... keep doing it! Enjoy!

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Part Fourteen**

Karroe was in his element as he played with the children who had been sent through all the medical processes and had been moved to the quickly made crèche. He was surprised when Jack came down escorting a man with thinning blonde hair

"Tony!" the man cried rushing forward when he spotted a little boy playing with blocks

"Daddy!" Tony looked up, his eyes going wide when he saw his dad was there for him. He held up his arms as his dad picked him up cradling him safely

"Thank you Jack, oh god thank you so much" the man said a few minutes later looking up at Jack with such thanks in his eyes

"No problem, Pete..." Jack replied "You can take him home if you want. He's been cleared"

"I'm bringing my people in to help. Whatever you need done then all you have to do is ask"

"I appreciate it. You should thank Karroe too, he's the one who brought them all back" the immortal nodded at the man who had been playing with the children keeping them company

"You brought my boy back?" inquired Pete still holding Tony close. Karroe just nodded "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Just doing my job" he blushed, it was very few occasions that he was thanked so personally. He turned back to the girl who had been pouring 'tea' from the plastic teapot for him. Jack escorted Pete and his reunited son out before coming back to talk to him

"You're a natural"

"Thanks. I think I may have had a really large family once upon a time" he replied without looking up, he missed the flash of wonder that crossed Jack's eyes

"You think?" he asked him and Karroe stiffened up, finally turning so he could glare at the man in charge

"I don't remember" he stated coldly, he was furious that Jack had brought out the questioning and the wonder

"What is it that you don't remember?" Jack sat down on one of the small plastic chairs and leaned forward. The girl got bored and went off to invite some other children to play with her, Karroe slid into the chair next to Jack and sighed

"Everything. Who I am, where I come from... I don't even know my real name. The name I have was given to me by the Shadow Proclamation; at first I thought that I had something to do with the Fief-Kane Assassinations but turns out I don't. I wasn't a survivor, I wasn't part of that family... the earliest memory I have is waking up on Platform 3" he thought back to when he was just a child standing there on those torn, dirty blood encrusted rags crying.

"I lost a few years of memory too. I used to work for the Time Agency, a long time ago... in another life. Heh, in a few lives back. They took two years of my life"

"I wish I could remember who I was. I'd give anything to know my real name and if I've got family"

"Are you on permanent contract with the Proclamation? Because if you're not then you're more than welcome to stay here for a while, work for me... that's if you wanted? It'd be nice to spend time with someone who knows the universe as well as I do"

"I'll think about it" he mumbled before deciding to change the subject "So if you're a former time agent then how did you end up working here?"

"Now that is a very long story" chuckled Jack then his eyes glazed over; Karroe recognised that look all too well, it was a look of shame and sadness, one that he saw every morning when he looked in the mirror. Karroe put his hand over Jack's offering comfort and said nothing, they were kindred souls sharing the pain.

Jack sniffed back tears a few moments later as he sat surrounded by the children given to the 456 and all he could think of was Stephen. That was something that was always going to be with him for the rest of time and it deep down he felt like he deserved that.

"Will you tell me some time?"

"I'm not sure if I'm even ready to talk about it let alone tell anyone... but when I do then you'll be the second to know"

"Only second?" Karroe quirked a brow, Jack pulled away from him rising to his feet sighing as he went

"You may understand me, you may know what it's like to go through those kinds of things and I'm sure that you'll become a great friend to me but that's all you're going to be. A friend. I have loyalty to one man and one man alone... I love him... I crossed reality, travelled through the void to find him"

"He must be one hell of a man, what does he have a beer flavoured dick or something?" he asked then realised he was in the presence of young impressionable children who were watching him intently "I think I better go"

"You don't have to, the kids seem to like you and I think Owen likes having you around" Jack told him, Karroe sent him a withered look of disbelief "Okay, okay! I want you to stay because you'd be useful when the parents come to collect their children"

"Ain't it beautiful when you tell the truth?" he joked. Jack rolled his eyes and headed up to his office to finalise the last of the paperwork regarding the children's medical check ups. There would be plenty more red tape and typing to do after they were all returned to their families.

He opened his door and happily sat down at the desk that was formerly Rose's, he leaned back in the comfy chair then noticed a letter sitting propped up against his desk lamp. Jack picked it up, opening it quickly. It was from the Doctor

"Dear Jack" he mumbled to himself as he began to read it.

"_Dear Jack, I know that I'm not the Doctor anymore. I know that all I am is John Smith but I still have all the memories that the real Doctor has. I remember telling you that you were a fixed point __in time and space and even now when I look at you I can see it. Whatever Rose did to you in your universe it's carried over here. You still won't be able to die and at some point you're going to need to return to the universe you came from. You don't have to go right away, knowing you you'll probably ignore everything I'm telling you now. But Jack, I also have to tell you that the people who were around you in the other universe will be drawn to you..." _his hand holding the letter dropped to the desktop as everything suddenly dawned on him. Toshiko, Ianto, Owen... all of them were drawn to him because of what Rose had made him. That meant Gwen and Suzie... he quickly powered up his computer searching CCTV networks for them.

"Jack? What's wrong?" he looked up to see Toshiko staring at him from the doorway

"Gwen and Suzie. I should have kept an eye on them! I should have known!" he growled angry at himself.

"Whose Gwen and Suzie?" she asked him as she came into the office

"In the other Torchwood... in my Torchwood they were people who worked with me... Gwen was the only one who lived. Suzie went mad and killed people. It turns out now that you're all drawn to me. You and Owen and Gwen and Suzie and... and Ianto" he stopped typing and looked up at her "If you're drawn to me then what's to stop the same thing happening to you that happened to the parallel versions of you?"

He was openly crying now, she marched round the desk leaning down to pull him into her arms Jack clung on for dear life

"It won't happen to us!" she promised "In your reality it's already happened right? So it's not going to happen the same!"

"I should send you away" he sniffled, she pulled back away from him

"Don't you dare! I won't go back to prison! I won't!" she hissed at him "It's unfair to free me then take it away from me! You're worse than them if you do!"

"I'm not sending you back there. I would never do that to you... it's just not safe for you"

"It's worth the risk! To protect people! Regular people like me..." she softened sadly "If they come to you tell them the dangers and if they stay then it's their own choice"

"I know" he nodded sadly "But I can't loose anyone else. I've been through so much already"

"That's what makes you so strong... that's what draws us to you" she explained "And as for Ianto... if you want then you should tell him and let him make his choice"

"I will" he sighed "Thanks Tosh"

"So are they coming?"

"Who?"

"Gwen and Suzie? If they worked for you last time maybe then could again?" she suggested

"We'll see" he said finalising the discussion "How are we on the children returning home?"

"All signed and ready to be archived. Do you want to watch them being you reunited with their parents? I can easily patch the CCTV footage to your computer"

"No thanks Tosh" he smiled as he switched off his computer "I have a date to get ready for"

*

"What to wear? What to wear?" he mumbled to himself as he pulled out shirt after shirt... did he go casual? It would have helped if he knew what Ianto would be wearing

"Need a hand?" Tosh was stood in the doorway holding a glass of wine and William was standing behind her with his arms around her middle leaning his head down on her shoulder. The two of them seemed a permanent fixture in his home now... it was amazing what pressing one little button did!

"Please?" he looked to the two of them almost desperately and they came in to help him, though he wasn't sure what use William would be in the decisions department.

"No. No. Definitely not. Maybe... hm hold this up. Yes... that with that and that. Get changed so we can see it. How long is it till you pick him up?"

"Four hours" he replied nervous that he was running out of time; Tosh had to hide her smile at the long countdown.

"Go and try that on and we'll see if its good" she urged him into the bathroom shutting the door behind him before turning to look at William who chuckled along with her "Almost as bad as me... I wonder if it's been as long for him as it has for me, I think it might have been longer... no wonder he's so out of practice"

"What do you mean?" William asked "I find it hard to believe that a woman like you didn't have men breaking down the door to be with you"

"I... I..." she bit her lip unsure whether to tell him the truth; she wasn't ashamed of why she ended up in the UNIT cell but he was a soldier! She'd been devoid of human contact for so long, been broken and empty for just as long. It would be devastating if she lost the small fraction of hope she'd gained from William... but then again keeping things would damage relationships too.

"It's okay, you can tell me" he told her as he cupped her face, meeting her eyes "Something happened to you, didn't it? Something bad? Did someone hurt you?" Toshiko glanced up at the bathroom door and Spooner scowled "Was it Jack?"

"No. He didn't hurt me... he saved me" she pulled away wrapping her arms around herself for comfort "I was in prison, William, I was in a UNIT holding cell"

"What?" he was surprised, more than surprised... not her! Not his Toshiko! "Why? What did you do... How long?"

"Nine years. There was a company I worked for and some people found out and kidnapped my mother. They wanted me to steal and build some technology for them, if they didn't they would have killed her. I did what they asked and when I took it to them I had no idea UNIT had been watching... they took me away and locked me up. There was no trial..." her eyes glazed over "Just me in that cell for nine years. All that time..."

Jack chose that moment to come out of the bathroom, he bristled at the tense atmosphere but put it aside when he saw Tosh brush aside a single fallen tear and smile at him

"Is it okay?"

"Yeah, looks good" she nodded before looking at William "Do you think it looks okay?" he just nodded without saying anything.

"Good well, I'm going to take this off and get a shower..." he trailed off into a grin

"What?" Spooner retorted with a smirk "Not going to ask us to join you?"

"I'm saving it for Ianto"

"God help the poor boy" laughed Tosh as she grabbed William's hand and led him from the bedroom.

William was well aware that Toshiko and Jack shared the rather large double bed and while it may have bothered others, it didn't bother him. Well, he'd met her after waking up in said bed... with Jack in it too! It was clear to anyone that they behaved like brother and sister or long time friends rather than lovers and he knew that Jack loved Ianto more than anything. Spooner had not met the man but he had seen him in passing through the Tower and the native Welshman always had this dopey happy smile on his face obviously put there by Jack.

"Why did you tell me about being in the UNIT prison?" he asked her, she stopped half standing half sitting. She flopped down with a sigh and swigged her wine

"I was scared... I want this to work. I was locked in a concrete box for nine years, Will, and if you keep secrets then relationships never work! I want this to work because I don't want to be alone! Oh god don't leave me alone!" she suddenly felt hysterical at the thought of being alone; horrible visions of being the only person alive filled her mind. William hurried over to her and pulled her into his arms

"It's okay! You're okay! I'm not going anywhere! You're safe!" he told her firmly until she sagged in his arms. He held her safe in his arms, stroking her hair and trying to make her believe that she was loved.

*

"This?"

"No"

"This?"

"No"

"This?!"

"No. Tad, why do you have to wear a suit? I thought you hated them, they reminded you of work"

"Well I want to look nice" he mumbled. Addie was in the middle of the bed nestled by pillows while Tarry sat on the edge of the bed surrounded by shirts, trousers and ties. This had all kicked off when Taren got home from school and asked him what he was going to wear for seeing Jack... when there had been no reply all three of them had trudged up to the bedroom to find something.

Which had been two hours ago and now Taren was getting hungry and very irritable. His sister would have been the same but she was happily sucking on her toes.

"Taaaad! I'm hungry" he whined, Ianto smiled throwing down the ties he'd been holding and scooped his son up into his arms

"Are you? Really?" he asked tickling him, it was music to his eyes hearing his boy laughing "Well then I think we should do something about it!" Ianto gathered Addie up and the three of them headed downstairs to the kitchen

"Tad, make that thing with the vegetables and the cheese on top" begged Taren, that would seriously cut into his time getting ready but he was sure that Jack would understand. An hour later and vegetables gratin was sitting on Taren's plate and Ianto was feeding his daughter a final bottle. Addie polished off half of it before he burped her and she happily drifted off to sleep

"Tarry, after you've finished dinner I want you to put your dish in the sink then you can watch TV until Jack and auntie Toshiko gets here then it's off to bed. I'm going to get ready now... I'm leaving the baby monitor with you while I'm in the shower so if Addie wakes up I want you to come and get me"

"Okay tad!" he smiled. He took her upstairs and laid her down in her cot before taking the baby monitor down to Taren who was now in the living room watching Batman.

Ianto raced upstairs pulling his shirt off and unfastening his belt, he had only an hour before Jack got here and he wasn't ready! He hadn't even picked out what he was going to wear! It wasn't difficult to loose himself in the shower... his mind wandering back to the last time Jack had been here and their encounter. Soon enough his hands started wandering and he came muttering the man's name.

Emerging from the shower he dried off fixing up his hair before pulling on stylish tight jeans and a long sleeved black shirt, he was debating whether on not to wear a tie when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" he heard Taren shout and he had to rush down the stairs to catch his son before he opened the door. Jack stood there with Tosh and there was a third person he didn't know but had seen around the Tower

"Jack"

"I hope you don't mind... Tosh brought William. Is that okay?"

"Um... yeah" he mumbled he was annoyed because he hardly knew Tosh let alone William but Jack was assuring him that they were both okay people to leave his kids with "Come in"

Ianto stepped aside letting them in, Tosh kissed his cheek then led William into the living room. Taren followed the couple intent of playing twenty questions while Jack and Ianto lingered in the hallway

"I brought wine" he held the bottle up nervously before leaning to kiss Ianto's cheek. Ianto closed his eyes at the feel of Jack so near that heady smell invading his senses enough to drive him dizzy, he turned his head meeting the older man's mouth deepening what started out as an innocent little thing.

"Ahem" coughed Tosh standing in the doorway, they broke apart looking heatedly at each other so she cleared her throat "What time does Taren go to bed?"

"Now. He's going up to bed now"

"But tad!"

"No buts! Taren, now come say goodnight" he held out his arms and Taren came over. Ianto picked him up cuddling him close before taking him upstairs so he could put him to bed. He laid Tarry down and pulled the blanket up "You're going to be good for Auntie Tosh and Uncle William, right?"

"Yeah" he nodded sleepily "Have fun tad, I love you"

"I love you too, mab" he kissed his forehead then turned the light off as he left the room. Ianto quickly pulled socks and shoes on in his room before checking himself in the mirror one final time to make sure he looked okay.

Jack was in the kitchen trying to find a place to put the wine and Tosh and William were sitting in the living room. He wandered into the living room so he could talk to her about what she would be doing this evening

"Here's the baby monitor... she shouldn't wake up again but if she does then she might need her nappy changing. Can you handle that?"

"Yeah" she nodded her head "What about Taren?"

"If he comes down after we've gone send him straight back up to bed. He has school in the morning... if he says that it's okay for him to be up tell him that you'll tell me all about it when I get in and that should do the trick. Here's my phone number and here's the phone number of the restaurant and you have Jack's phone number right?" she smiled, Jack came into the living room slipping his fingers between Ianto's

"We'll be fine and yes, we will call you if anything goes wrong. Now, go..." she waved the two out watching them drive away on their date.

He'd never been on a date with a man before. Well he'd never really been interested in men but with Jack... everything was new and he was thrown off balance. He was quiet as they drove, as Jack turned away from the centre of the city he began to wonder where they were going

"Where is this restaurant? Rhyl" he tried making it into a joke but it just made him sound extremely nervous.

"I um... I tried to get a reservation but it was too short notice so I decided that I'd cook. I got all the ingredients and cut out of work early so I'd have enough time to get everything right"

"You cooked me a meal?"

"Yeah" he nodded shyly, Ianto just reached across laying his hand on Jack's thigh squeezing it reassuringly as he smiled

"Thank you" he told the immortal.

"You're welcome" he replied then they pulled up "Here we are. Come on up"

Jack opened the door ushering Ianto inside before shutting it behind them. He'd never been here before, he wasn't sure what he was expecting just knew that he'd be surprised by whatever was there

"Let me take your coat... um, could you put the stereo in the living room on? It should all be set up, you just have to press play" announced Jack as he took Ianto's coat. He wandered off while Jack hung their coats up before trekking to the kitchen to get the meal out of the oven.

"Oh my... " gasped Ianto when he saw the living room bathed in candle light, there must have been at least a hundred tiny candles placed around the room and two large white candles sat on the table highlighting two plates and fancy cutlery. He couldn't help but swallow nervously as he felt like such a girl, he was being wooed and he kinda liked it, pressing play on the stereo he wasn't surprised to hear low, deep soulfull music pouring out. It was music to make love by and his mind instantly went back to the first time he'd let Jack into his bed...

"Are you okay?" he turned sharply to see Jack standing there holding a pan with oven mitts, he set it down on the table before closing the distance to wrap his arms around Ianto's waist "Do you like it?"

Ianto didn't say anything just kissed Jack roughly, their mouths dragged together as their tongues battled. He nibbled at Jack's lower lip, pulling it between his as his lover backed him towards the couch. Gasping for breathe Ianto tipped his head back, Jack couldn't help it, he leaned in and licked up Ianto's neck tasting him. The welshman blinked

"Did you just lick me?"

"Yeah" nodded Jack hungrily, before he closed his eyes pulling back entangling himself enough to stand up "We should stop and eat dinner..." Ianto rose up their noses touching, breathe mingling

"What if I don't want to stop?" he asked, Jack was panting heavily until his resolve snapped and he grabbed Ianto up into his arms, he other man clung to him as best he could while he was carried backwards.

They crashed into the wall and Ianto wrapped his legs around his lover, Jack grabbed the shirt by the hems and pulled it apart sending buttons flying

"I want you" Ianto growled as Jack tugged away his ruined shirt

"Have me" answered Jack in husky delicious tones. Jack stroked a rough hand down Ianto's chest before leaning in aggressively kissing him before pulling him away from the wall and staggering quickly to the bedroom. That in itself is an impressive fete because Ianto is nearly the same size and weight as him.

Jack kicked the door open with his foot, a few faltering steps in he had Ianto sat on the edge of his bed. They'd both put so much preparation into what they were wearing but in the end it only got in the way

"Will you... strip for me?" Ianto asked, suddenly feeling nervous about this

"Anything" he smiled back as he stroked his lover's smooth cheek "Tonight, it's all about you. We have all night"

"All night? But I..." Ianto's tone made him stop all movement, his shirt was open revealing smooth skin

"Tosh is aware that you'll be gone for some time... I hope that's okay..." it was his turn to get nervous and he paused midway getting undressed, his hands on the waist of his trousers

"We have all night. As long as I'm back in time for when Taren and Addie wake up... now..." explained Ianto before looking down at Jack's trousers, Ianto licked his lips impatiently and reached up to help Jack get undressed.

Ianto popped the button, pulled the zip then happily butterflied the material leaving his lover standing there in nothing but black cotton boxers. This was real, this was reality, he was sober and it didn't scare him as much as he thought it would; the idea of helping another man strip so they could make love should have terrified him. But it didn't... he wasn't scared. With a brief glance at Jack's nervous face he reached out grabbing hold of the boxers and pulled them swiftly down freeing the stiff erection. He blinked when it bobbed and slapped against Jack's stomach... so much bigger than he remembered.

The former Time Agent sucked in a breathe when his lover rose to his feet standing so close they were almost chest to chest "You're nervous"

"This is new... it's... I know you but I have to start over. I know what you like because of him..." confessed Jack not bothering to hide the fact that he was nervous

"I want to know what you like, what makes you feel good... can I explore you?"

"You don't have to ask, love, just do it" he told him before pressing a kiss to the corner of that full mouth. The younger man shucked his pants and underwear, toed off his shoes then grasped Jack by the hips pulling him close bringing their erections together

"Like this?" he smirked as he rolled his hips

"Tease" whimpered Jack bowing his head against the crook of Ianto's neck "Mmmm"

"So you like it when I do that then?" the words were whispered making Jack sigh

"Oh those delicious welsh tones... do it again lover, please" he begged. Moaning once more when Ianto thankfully complied; he stroked up Jack's manhood once more before stepping back.

It took him a while to realise that he was standing there on his own and that Ianto was now on the bed, sprawled up against the black cast iron headboard holding out a hand for him

"Come make love to me?"

"Yes" he nodded crawling up the bed, up over Ianto to kiss him once more. Their tongues danced as their fingers entwined in each's hair, they both moaned their delight when Jack ground his dick against Ianto's.

Jack pulled back breathless, it had been a while since someone had made him breathless, he roughly cupped his lover's face turning him slightly so he could mumble huskily into his ear

"I'm going to fuck you, I'm going to put my dick in you and you're going to like it"

"Mmm Jack" Ianto keened, his eyes fluttered shut and he just nodded once. Jack knelt up, pulling Ianto up before pushing him so he was pressed flush against the wall "Ow, careful"

He had to grab the headboard for support as Jack grabbed his cheeks and lifted him up, all he could do was mimic his earlier movements and wrap his legs around Jack's hip's; the headboard sang under the weight but he happily ignored it

"Right where I need you" murmured Jack as his fingers dipped, tracing the cleft, skimming along his lover's quivering hole. Poor Ianto had never been so turned on in his entire life; his mind was still telling him how wrong it was to sleep with a man but he'd done it before, although drunk, he had enjoyed it. So what if it made him just a little bit bender? It felt far too good to quit and frankly he didn't want to leave Jack... not when the man made him feel this good!

"Oh... mmm" Jack slipped another finger in to join the first and scissoring carefully, Ianto was lost in a pleasurable fog but even he was surprised when Jack seemed to pull a condom out of nowhere and slip it on.

"Look at me" he whispered, it took him a moment to look at Jack but when he did he saw the love shining in his eyes

"I love you" confessed Ianto, he hadn't been meaning to say it; hadn't even been thinking about saying it but it slipped out

"I love you too" replied Jack, he leaned close resting his forehead against his lover's so he could savour the momemnt "Cara 'ch, 'm cariad"

"Oh Jack" sighed Ianto when he heard him speaking in Welsh. He chose that moment to thrust into Ianto pushing past that first ring of muscle, sinking into his tight warmth "Ahh... yes. That-that feels _so_ good"

Jack couldn't help but shake; tremors danced over his skin as he rested inside his lover... his Ianto. It was a struggled to hold him up but thankfully Ianto clung to him with his legs

"I need to move" he breathed, locking eyes with Ianto "You have no idea how good you feel..."

"I do" protested Ianto panting heavily "I know how... ahh! Oh my... never... god... never..."

His hips bucked up with that first tentative thrust that had the welshman babbling incoherently and gripping the black cast-iron for dear life

"Love making love to you" Jack mumbled against his lips before kissing him as he started a familiar steady rhythm that ceased the jibberish tumbling from Ianto's mouth.

The bed creaked under their actions and the headboard banged repeatedly against the wall trapping Ianto's fingers every time it went back but he didn't care, if he let go of the head board then he'd have no leverage to thrust down against Jack and with the way he felt that was just absolutely unacceptable. Ianto, however, didn't realise just how loud the banging of said headboard against said wall was until someone on the other side thumped repeatedly

"Think they're angry" he ground out between harsh breaths before biting his lip; too good... Ianto threw his head back moaning loudly "Oh God Jack! Jack! Jack! I'm gonna... going to..."

"Yes, that's it cariad, let go... cum for me" replied Jack loudly loving hearing his name cried repeatedly; it was one hell of an ego boost. He watched Ianto lose it all with a loud moan and it hit him. Jack couldn't help but begin to cry, his orgasm washed over him, but he barely noticed it. Jack lay his lover down carefully on the bed before pulling him into his arms stroking Ianto's damp hair.

When Ianto recovered enough he turned to look at Jack with a big, happy grin on his face that disappeared when he saw Jack was crying

"Hey? What? Are you okay? What's wrong?" he sat up slipping from Jack's grasp "Why are you crying?"

"Because I love you and because I keep thinking about how I lost him... it scares me that one day I'll loose you too. I don't want you to ever go away"

"I'm not going anywhere. I meant it when I said I'd made my choice, it's you... it's always going to be you. I'm divorcing Lisa for you, I'm giving up any pretence that I'm straight for you..."

"I'm sorry I ruined the moment"

"You didn't, as moments go that was pretty good. Been a while since I came like that" he replied as he leaned languidly back against the cast-iron frame "Not that it's just about sex... I told you I loved you didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did"

"Hm, at least you said it back. Was it to me or to him?"

"It was to you" Jack sat up their eyes locking "I love you"

"I'm kinda hungry, why don't we go get some of that food you whipped up to get me in the sack"

"Heh, bit late now" chuckled Jack. The lovers grabbed their shorts and headed out into the living room to pile the plates high with now warm rich risotto. Ianto carried the two plates while Jack grabbed the two wine flutes and champagne and they returned to the bedroom to lounge under the blankets.

TBC...


	15. Chapter 15

**Authors/Note:** I know I usually reply to each little feedback comment you leave me but I'm asking for forgiveness for not doing that with this update. It's the early hours of the morning and I've been hit with a strange case of inspiration and it's all just been pouring out. The Fix and EAE have been flowing like mad! So much so I've mildly neglected Breaking 13 and my original fic Lyco. But after I've had some sleep I'm sure my creativity will go round all stories and many updates will be had! It's ten to 3 am and boy I'm tired... about this part, about this part... uhhh Ianto gets home and William takes advantage. Jack becomes domesticated and Ianto agrees on Jack being dadda. Karroe and Owen get a little bit closer... I guess that's the pairing that's happening here... don't blame me I *like* canon. Oh and I also apologise for the cliffhanger I leave it on... hm not really, but a little bit. Enjoy and keep reviewing! Thank you to all who reviewed and the people who lurked. I love you people! Oh great... hm that kind of tiredness equals a loved up drunk :/

**ETA:** This is proof of how obsessive I am. I was told that there were a tonne of mistakes and it bothered me, yes it was the early hours of the morning when I posted this but that's no excuse. So I hopefully have caught all errors, if not please point them out and let me know!

**

* * *

Part Fifteen**

Ianto let himself in after being dropped off by Jack, who was on his way to work early, and crept in to find Toshiko curled up asleep against her boyfriend on his couch. He couldn't help but smile at the pretty picture they made... he turned away and went upstairs to check on Taren and Addie; both his children were still asleep so he went back downstairs. He put the coffee machine on before going to wake up Tosh and William

"Hey," she yawned sleepily "You're back, did you have fun?"

"He must have done if he'd come crawling in at... half six, no... that's a five" groaned William "You dirty stop out"

"Yes I had fun and yes it's early. I'd offer to drive you home but... y'know, the kids... what do I owe you?" he asked pulling out his wallet

"Oh, not needed" Tosh held up her hands but Will held out his hand

"Twenty?"

"William!" she gasped

"What?! It's half five, I'm tired and I could have been doing something far more creative with you"

"Men!" she shook her head but smirked, Ianto handed over twenty "Do all men think with their penises?"

"Hey" grinned Ianto cheekily "You're asking the wrong guy, especially after I've just come crawling in at half five after being nailed four times in the past nine hours"

"Well at least the boss will be happy. Alright, let's go... Ianto, those kids of yours were good as gold" she hugged him and then she linked fingers with her boyfriend leading him from the house.

Ianto watched them go at the door with a wave before he went in to get a shower and get changed, no sooner than he'd pulled his jeans up did Taren burst into the room excitedly then frowned when he saw Jack wasn't there

"Where's Jack?"

"He's at work" he replied, he was in too good a mood today; when Tarry looked down disappointed he grabbed his son up into his arms and tickled him "But guess what?"

"What?" he droned

"He's coming on Saturday to play football with you. He said he'd love to take you to the park"

"Really!"

"Yep. Now go get dressed for school" he ordered his son before he continued to get dressed.

"Okay... um tad? Thanks for asking Jack to come over" Tarry said finally before rushing to his bedroom to get ready for school. Ianto couldn't help but smile as he pulled on a t-shirt before going to check if Addiena was awake.

***

"You have a choice of any fancy hotel in London, why then did you decided to follow _me_ home?" snarled Owen

"You have a comfy couch..." he offered but Owen just glared at him "Alright, alright! I didn't want to be alone!"

"Why aren't you bothering Jack or that Tish woman?"

"Tosh?"

"Tish Tosh... whatever" he snarled "Why me?"

"Because after seeing you at work, you're a good doctor and you were good with all those kids. The thing is I respect you... plus both Tosh and Jack are busy" he explained, Owen sighed rolling his eyes

"Fine, the couch is yours"

"Great!" he grinned hurrying over to sprawl on the couch

"So how long do I have to put up with you?"

"Until the public briefing where Jack tells the world I brought their children back and offers me a temporary job with Torchwood. I'll be on the payroll and I'll be able to affod my own place... I want to stick around, it's not that often that I get to bask in the glory of the job"

"Egotist much?" Owen quipped as he moved to put the kettle on

"It's been seventy years since I last took a holiday and the last three missions haven't ended in such upbeat ways" protested Karroe moodily. Owen put his mug down on the couch and stared hard at the kid

"I still don't get how you're so old, frankly I don't believe it. If you want to stay here then you have to tell me the how and why; I'm not looking for a longer life... I'm just curious"

Karroe paled leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees burying his hands in his hair as he relived his earliest memories. He looked up to see Owen coming to sit down next to him

"There's a lot that I dont remember but the earliest memory I have that's the clearest is when I was seven. I was in a place that was pretty much covered in blood, there must have been gallons of it and I was covered head to foot in it. It was in my hair, all over my face and clothes... I know I was there for a very long time. On the day I was rescued there were Judoon everywhere, it was the first time I'd saw on of them and then Mother Shadow was there... she picked me up and took me away from the blood. The next thing I remember is being in her private quarters at the Shadow Proclamation; she'd cleaned me up, given me clothes and she taught me how to speak English. She took me in and looked after me"

"Mother Shadow? It sounds like some cheesy super hero name"

"Hey! She happens to be the elected leader of the Shadow Proclamation, her word governs the universe! Show some respect! Mother Shadow happens to be my foster mother"

"Okay, okay... jeez! I'm sorry" he held up his hands "So all that time you've been with them?"

"Nearly, when I was old enough I began taking odd jobs so I could raise money to buy myself a ship. I wanted to know who I was and why I had such twisted memories; I have a feeling that Mother Shadow knows but every time I try and tell her she takes a damn vow of silence. I don't know if she's trying to protect me or abide by the strictures"

"Did you find anything out?"

"I found my name but other than that no. I thought I was related to a massacre but I checked all the records, even when to the planet where it happened but I didn't recognise anything and there wasn't any reconds of a little boy matching my description. That was hundreds of years ago, I don't even know why I keep aging... I don't know what species I am, just that I'm vaguely humanoid"

"Vaguely humanoid? You looked pretty normal to me"

"I have two hearts, binary vascular systerm" he explained, Owen blinked in surprise

"Really?" he looked down at Karroe's midsection "Can I feel?"

"Never thought I'd hear you ask that" he smirked as he lifted up his shirt, Owen placed his hand on one side of Karroe's chest feeling the beat before moving to the other feeling it's twin thumping rhythmically "Whoa... that's..." he looked up to see Karroe staring at him intently.

Karroe pulled Owen in and they kissed hungrily, the londoner pushed the 'alien' down on the couch climbing over him as they snogged roughly. Owen pulled off his shirts before reaching for Karroe's clothing, it was a joint effort to get each other naked.

Skin on skin felt good as Karroe pushed Owen back so he was pinned beneath him, he stared down at the doctor

"Didn't think you messed with kids" he smirked and then it all came flooding back for Owen, he pushed Karroe off him and slipped away tugging his boxers on as he disappeared into his bedroom shutting the door. And locking it. "Fuck!" Karroe roared his displeasure at not getting what he wanted from Owen; he was really starting to like the guy and all he wanted to do was to scratch an itch so he could get it out of his system.

He pulled his clothes back on then left the apartment in search of something to do to distract him, he wandered down the street before he thought of his ship and he headed home.

Karroe's ship was exactly where he left it, which he was more than thankful for, but there was a large crowd of people standing around the blockade staring at his ship with wonder and amazement he made his way to the front of the blockade intent on going further but the guards stopped him

"What's going on?" he asked a woman who was standing next to him, his side of the blockade

"Haven't you heard?!" she gasped incredulously "It's a real live alien spaceship!"

"I can see that!" he shot back "I meant, what's with all the guards"

"They're stopping all of us from seeing it up close. Jerks!" she yelled at the guards who ignored her

"What's your name?"

"Maggie" she replied staring at him like he'd grown an extra head

"Hi, I'm Karroe. I'll be going now" he said then ducked under the barricade and sprinted as fast as he could across the field. The guards saw him and chased after him, Maggie just watched him go unable to stop laughing as he climbed on onto the ship.

He had fun leading the guards around on a wild goose chase over the top of his ship, it lasted until one of them shot a warning shot at him; just blanks, he noticed when he saw the cartridge land. Karroe held up his hands regardless, just because they were blanks didn't mean that they didn't hurt "Alright, alright. If you must know, this is my ship"

"Bullshit!" snapped the one who'd fired. Karroe held up one finger, moving slowly to pull out a small control. He pressed it and the hatch he'd been running to opened and the computer mainframe hologram appeared

"Greetings my master" she greeted him

"Greetings, Vista. Bring up protocol file number six dash seven three five alpha" he instructed her. She slowly shifted into a holographic print-out of his identification, Karroe looked round at the guards who seemed to finally buy that he was an alien "Now, will you kindly get off my ship, your boots are damaging the paint job"

The guards reluctantly climbed down leaving him alone to dismiss Vista and close the hatch before climbing down himself. He easily spotted Maggie watching him from the crowd, he waved to her before aiming the control at the main door, it opened with the ladder extending. He climbed up, waved to her one final time before going inside "Vista, lock all airlocks and initiate zero gravity"

"Yes, master" her voice complied, he pulled off his jacket as he felt himself weightlessly rise from the floor to float around the cabin

"Don't disturb me unless it's Owen Harper or Jack Harkness or if my phone goes off"

"Yes, master" she repeated and he settled in to get some sleep in the weightless cabin.

*

Ianto still had a dopey grin on his face when he took Taren to school, when they arrived at the school Tarry didn't get out

"Tad?"

"Yeah? Why are you sitting there? You'll be late"

"You forgot about the play" he mumbled quietly. Ianto instantly remembered; the letter for it had been stuck up on the fridge for weeks now but with all the business between him and Lisa he'd forgotten "You forgot and Jack doesn't know. If you'd remembered you could have asked him and both my parents would have been here to see me!" he started to cry.

Ianto turned the engine off the turned round in the seat whipping out his phone and rubbing those stray tears away

"I'm going to call Jack right now and tell him. Don't cry Tarry" he told him, he leaned over and unfastened his seatbelt pulling his son easily through the divide and onto his lap "Here, you can talk to him" Ianto called Jack and Jack answered on the second ring

"Hey Gorgeous" he greeted him

"Hey Jack, I have someone here that wants to talk to you" he replied then passed the phone to Taren

"Jack? Will you come and see my play?"

"Sure? When is it?"

"This morning. Tad forgot to tell you"

"I'll be there. Taren? Your tad has a lot of grown up stuff to worry about so don't be too hard on him for forgetting ok?"

"Okay I won't. Thanks Jack!" he hung up the phone then passed it back to his father. Ianto quickly text the school's address then got his kids out of the car and went into the school.

Taren made sure he found his way to the hall then he hurried off to class leaving Ianto to sit down on those little chairs amonst the other parents. He lifted Addie out of her seat when she started getting fussy and gave her a bottle

"Oh she's adorable!" he looked up to see a crowd of mums surrounding him making him feel like he was lion's prey "How old is she?"

"Eight days" he replied as a rather busty mum reached out and stroked Addie's hand. The mums 'awed' over her and she finished her bottle. He lifted her to his shoulder to burp her

"Where... where's her mum?" another mother asked trying to be subtle but failing miserably

"We're going through a divorce. She gave me custody of the children... my son is going to be the speaker" he nodded at the little stage set up at the end of the hall

"Oh you poor thing" said Busty "It's so hard being a single parent these days! I should know!"

"Tell me about it!" agreed Miss Subtle as she rolled her eyes "So Ian are you doing anything after the play?"

"Got nothing planned" he replied nervously, a little bit annoyed she couldn't even get his name right. All the single mums began practically drooling thinking fresh meat; all bets were off and they were no longer friends until a winner had succeeded in bating him. Addie burped and he transferred her back down to his arms and pulled out her favourite soft toy for her to stare at and squeeze.

"Whose that?" asked Busty suddenly, they all looked up to see Jack striding into the hall carrying a camera in one hand "Is he going to record the play?"

"He's cute" murmured Miss Subtle. Jack stopped by them and winked at the women

"Ladies" he greeted them before turning to look at Ianto "Ianto" he leaned down cupping his boyfriend's face with his free hand and kissed him hello before he sat down next to him and stroked Addie's hand with one finger, she latched onto it, curling her little fingers around his large one. When Ianto looked up again all the women had disbursed apart from a very hopeful Miss Subtle

"I was beginning to think you'd never get here. I'm sorry I called you away from work"

"Nonsense and you didn't call me. Taren did! I wouldn't miss this from the world" replied Jack, he lifted the camera up onto his lap noticing suddenly that one of the women was still vying for attention

"So what is your child playing in the play?"

"Taren's the speaker" replied Ianto as he tried to keep Addie entertained "What about you?"

"Laura's a tree, she was so excited and it took me forever to make her costume" she grinned smugly "So since you're not doing anything after this do you want to get some lunch, Ian?" Jack was about to tell her off but Ianto got there first

"No I don't want to have lunch with you. My name isn't Ian... it's Ianto and you should have more respect. My boyfriend is sat right there!" he snapped annoyed with her behaviour. She promptly turned around and pretended that hadn't happened.

"Boyfriend eh?"

"Well if I'd said boss it wouldn't have made sense" smirked Ianto cheekily. Jack put his arm around Ianto's shoulders then a teacher came onto the stage announcing the play. Jack turned on the camera and started recording when Taren came out standing in front of the curtain, the little boy couldn't help but wave when he saw Jack and his tad sat there. They waved back both of them looking like doting proud fathers.

Once the play was finished all the students filed out under supervision of their teachers and then the parents were allowed to leave. Jack took Addie from her tad cradling her in his arms and carried her out while Ianto grabbed the camera and car seat.

"How about I spring for lunch?" suggested Jack with a happy smirk as he cooed at Addie

"I'd like that" smiled Ianto, Jack looked up and pressed a soft kiss to his boyfriend's lips before looking down at Addie "Are you sure you have time for work?"

"It's fine. As long as I'm back by two for that Q and A, we're going public about who brought the 456 children back. Tosh even managed to talk Karroe into making a speech!"

"It's going to be televised?" inquired Ianto a plan forming in his mind. He was feeling really proud of his ex-Time Agent boyfriend and wanted to show him off, especially after the effort Jack made last night with dinner.

"Yep... that's right! Televised! You're gonna see your dadda on TV" he cooed down at the little girl then realised what he'd said. Jack looked up at Ianto with horror on his face "I uhh... well"

"What's wrong? Dadda" he leaned in and kissed him, he wasn't angry... in fact he was beginning to warm up to the idea of Jack being a solid figure in his children's lives "Don't worry about it. Since it's televised can I call my sister and tell her to tune in? I know that she's pretty excited about seeing my new boyfriend"

"Really?"

"Yeah, she absolutely hated Lisa" he replied before frowning "I think that should have been the give away"

"She can tune in but it's going to be boring, all the generals are going to try and blow hot air about how good a job they did when they didn't do anything. I say a few words telling the world who the real hero is then announce Karroe... he says his bit and then we answer the press's questions and then we all get to go home"

"I see. Did Toshiko make you memorise all that so you didn't forget?"

"Made a note in my PDA" replied Jack with a grin. They got to their cars and Jack fastened her into her car seat, left the camera in the SUV glove box and the two of them walked hand in hand down the road looking for a little café they could sit and have lunch at "I like this"

"Me too. Lisa wasn't big on the holding hands thing... heh, she thought it was girly!" he explained then paused looking at Jack "I..."

Jack just smiled nodding his head, he knew moments like that; moments that were perfect where you truly felt in love with the person you were with. Just by doing something so simple like holding hands and walking down the street together... because it was him, because it was _his_ Ianto was what made it perfect and he knew that Ianto was feeling the same.

"I love you too" Jack told him and they continued walking in comfortable silence.

***

Rhiannon Davies sat down on the couch in front of the TV and snatched the remote off Johnny who was watching the football

"Oi! I was watching that"

"It's being recorded" she snapped back without sparing him a glance "Ianto's new boyfriend is going to be on the TV"

"Whu... Ianto's _boyfriend_? I thought he were with Lisa?" cried Johnny in surprise

"Ianto chucked Lisa after he found out she were cheatin on him. Got himself a boyfriend... hm, that must be him. Jack Harkness... he's gorgeous and a Captain"

"He ain't that great" scowled Johnny as they watched as Jack stepped up to the podium and began speaking "And captain of what? All those soldier boys are always bender"

"Shhh!"

"Now I'd like to introduce the real reason we're all here! This is Karroe Praetor Meshtan Fief-Kane, he's the person responsible for bringing the 456 children back to Earth" he stepped aside as a young twenty something man stepped forward amidst clapping then it all went to hell. There was gunfire and the camera tipped over. Rhiannon turned her head to the side to see Jack pushing Karroe down and she saw Jack lying there on top of the young man as a woman stood over them shooting her gun. When the bullets ran out she screamed and threw the gun down at Jack then she was intercepted by UNIT security.

"Oh my..." she gasped when she watched Jack's breathing slowing on TV and prayed to god that Ianto wasn't watching this even though she knew he was.

TBC...


	16. Chapter 16

**Cherry-Anne_Sponge: **Heheh wrong. Wasn't Maggie! Jack doesn't die. It all gets a bit dramatic.

**SakuraKissy: **Tosh wasn't hurt. Just Jack and Karroe... keep reading! Yeah there's going to be more interaction between Karroe and Owen in the future. Glad you liked it!

**katwinchester: **As far as cliffhangers go for me this one was pretty tame. But thanks!

**Camille12345: **Nope wasn't Lisa! Sorry about the mistakes, I know I didn't have to correct it but I did anyway. My spellchecker isn't doing it's job properly and I hate making obvious mistakes. I'm insanely obsessive with errors... I know I should find a beta but I can never keep in touch with them!

**NO-PANTIES: **I love the new things you learn every day! Lol!

**reddevilpoes: **Yeah Karroe is going to be a time lord... soap opera unto itself right there. He doesn't know he's a timelord, he thinks he's human!

**WickedWitchoftheSE: **Glad you liked it!

**Authors/Note: **Sorry if it sounds like I'm being mean with the guessing game of the shooter. It's been fun to see who you think it might be. Yes you'll find out in this chapter and it's going to be difficult. It's very gritty and slightly soap opera-ish. Not much of any other couples in this part... heavy focus on Janto obviously! I got a little bit tearful when I was writing the first few lines of this part. Made me think of CoE Day 4 all over again :( keep reading and reviewing and just enjoy this part! I hope you forgive me if there's any errors/spelling mistakes. Point them out so I can go OCD on them! There will be more look at the others in the next part be for now enjoy!

**

* * *

Part Sixteen**

Jack lay on top of him until the younger space traveller rolled him off, Karroe had a bullet wound to his right shoulder but otherwise he was unharmed. He sat up and looked down at Jack's bullet riddled torso as the blood spread along his blue shirt turning it almost black

"Oh god Jack" he cried as he tried to press his hands against the wounds to slow the bleeding "Help! Someone help me!"

Within seconds there was people milling round him and rushed voices, Jack felt his shirt being torn open and painful pressure digging over the holes

"Ianto" he breathed as he lifted a hand, it felt numb and he tried to touch his face. Everything was hazy and his eyes felt tired

"Just hold on Jack! Just hold on and he'll be here. Don't you go leaving him! Greatest guy in the universe! Isn't that right, Jack? That's what you said he was! You can't go dying on him now" Karroe ordered him as tears filled his eyes

"Okay" mumbled Jack and he held on. Within minutes there were paramedics and they were working him over, gauze was padded to his chest and he was loaded into an ambulance with a gas mask over his face.

*

Ianto stared at the TV in shock, he was still sat in the nice little café that Jack had taken him to when Jack was shot. The woman manning the counter glanced at him, remembering that Jack had been here earlier and that his 'friend' was still sitting there. She quickly hurried over with the bill and he paid quietly, her heart broke when she saw him pick up a little baby girl in a car seat; he'd just watched his family get torn apart!

He left the café quietly, walking briskly back up the road towards the school. He had to get Taren out of school because there was no one to look after his son after school if he went straight to the hospital.

A teacher let him into the little waiting room and he told her that there had been a family emergency and he had to pick up his son. His phone rang while he was waiting, it was Tosh

"Ianto!" she cried when he answered "I've been trying to reach you! Jack is..."

"I know. I saw on the TV... is he alive?"

"As far as I know when I last checked. They said he's holding on but they don't know how long it will be. It's pretty bad"

"I understand. I'm picking up Taren and then we're going to the hospital, would you look after Taren and Addie while I see him"

"Of course" she agreed "Oh, Ianto, I'm so sorry"

"What about Karroe? Is he okay?"

"He's fine, had a shot to the shoulder. Owen is coming in and he's going to assist with Jack and Karroe's care. Just get here quick!" she rung off leaving him to it.

The door opened and Taren came rushing out hugging his hip and talking a mile a minute about the play

"It was sooo cool that you and Jack was there! He got to see my play..." he trailed off when he saw the serious look at his tad's face "Tad? What's wrong?"

"Jack is in the hospital. He was hurt" he explained gently, Tarry's face crumpled up

"Is Jack gonna die?" he asked quietly, his voice was thick and carried that deep welsh lilt Ianto's did when he was upset

"I don't know" replied Ianto honestly. He scooped his son up into his free arm and he carried his children to the car to fasten them in and make his way to the hospital.

Karroe, Toshiko and William were waiting for him when he arrived, there was blood on William's uniform and Tosh had been clearly crying

"They're still working on him" she explained. Ianto glanced at Karroe who had little sense to look guilty for what happened, Tosh took hold of the baby seat and Taren's hand and walked a little ways down the hall so the men could talk

"He saved my life" he told the quiet man, his arm was in a sling and he was wearing a scrubs shirt

"Will I be able to see him?"

"You're his boyfriend, I don't see why they wouldn't let you. And if they don't you're still a member of Torchwood... a fairly high ranking one, Tosh told me Jack promoted you, just pull the government card and get in that way"

Owen came out of the resuscitation wearing dark blue scrubs wiping his hands on disposable towels, there was blood on the shirt but he looked a little smug and pleased with himself

"Are you Ianto?" he asked looking at the stoic man he hadn't met properly before, hell of a time for introductions. The man nodded and he grinned proud of his skills "He's stable and he's asking for you"

"Oh thank god"

"No! Jack!" all of them turned to stare down the hall to see Taren pull away from Toshiko and come tearing down the corridor skipping past Owen and his tad to disappear into Jack's room. Ianto raced after him pushing the cockney doctor aside "Jack! Don't die! Tad needs you!"

Ianto managed to grab his son as he clambered up on the seat, thankfully before the boy got on the bed

"Tarry, we have to be quiet" he told him then looked down at Jack seeing him properly for the first time and his heart broke. There was so many wires and he looked so pale, hardly the man who was as large as life "Jack..."

He was startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see Toshiko standing there holding out Addie's baby seat

"He needs all his family around him" she whispered, Ianto just nodded and took the seat from her putting it down on the floor and lifted Addiena out. He cradled her in one arm while he sat Taren on his knee and reached out with his free hand to touch Jack's face. It was cold and clammy and that simple touch was all it took for him to break down.

Taren turned on his tad's knee and wrapped his arms around Ianto's neck, he pulled his hand away from Jack and held his children closer as he cried

"It's okay tad, Jack won't leave you. He loves you and people who love each other get to live happily ever after" that just made Ianto sob harder. While he knew that Jack would either die and come back or recover quickly it didn't help seeing him like this.

"She was taken to the local police station before Torchwood stepped in. I think it was Tosh who managed to pull that one... she's at the Tower in one of the holding cells" the words penetrated Ianto's mind and he realised who William was talking about. The woman who'd shot Jack and Karroe, the woman responsible.

He stood up, sliding Taren onto the chair by himself and he fastened Addie back into her seat before turning to Toshiko

"I need to go. Look after them until I get back..."

"But what about Jack? He's dying" she hissed trying to be quiet for the children

"He won't stay dead. I won't be long... there's something I have to do"

"You're going to see _her_ aren't you" she asked rhetorically, without malice, she had wanted to have a few minutes alone with woman responsible, that is if she hadn't been so worried about Jack and rushed to the hospital.

"I'll be back in a bit"

"What if he wakes up and you're not here?"

"I won't be long. I should be back before he wakes up" he promised her, she offered him a small cold smile

"Make sure you say hello to her from me... and let her know that I'll be paying her a visit when Jack's better" Ianto nodded then leaned down kissing her cheek

"Look after my family until I get back" he told her then he walked off.

*

It was coming up to teatime when he arrived at the Torchwood Tower, he didn't have his ID badge with him and for a moment he worried about how he would get in but as soon as the guards saw him he was waved through

"Good evening Mr Jones" the young guard greeted him, Jack must have upgrading his jobrole and sent a memo out to everyone.

"Evening" he replied quietly "Where are the holding cells?

"Basement D. You'll need the access key, I'll call for one of the holders to come up" he told Ianto before talking into his radio. Five minutes later a man dressed in black combat gear stepped out of the elevator

"Assistant Chairman! Good evening" the soldier stood to attention. Assistant chairman was a bit of a surprise but he'd accepted the job and he wasn't going to disappoint Jack... when he returned back to work after his maternity leave was over he would do everything to live up to the role Jack had given him. But for now...

"I need you to take me to the prisoner apprehended earlier today for the shooting of Jack Harkness and Karroe Fief-Kane"

"Sir" the man nodded sharply before turning on his heel and led the way back to the elevator. They went down in silence, Ianto was doing his best to contain his growing anger and contempt for the woman he was about to meet. How do you look someone in the eye when they almost tore your family apart?

The corridor was grey, non-descript, devoid of warmth and it made him feel cold and empty. The nameless soldier walked to a door and Ianto followed. He could hear his heart hammering in his chest and he took a moment to suck a breath trying to hold onto his dissapating anger.

With a nod from Ianto the soldier opened the door revealing a poorly lit room, he stepped inside and the door was shut behind him. More grey walls under the gawdy lighting but there was a table in the middle and two chairs. One of the chairs was already occupied, a woman was shackled to it with handcuffs. She was laying face down on the table, her face covered by her long curly brown hair.

"Get up" he hissed, for a moment he didn't think she'd heard him. After a beat she slowly lifted her head from the table and he saw her tired red tinged eyes; she'd been crying. One eye was swollen shut and her lip was fat and still oozing blood

"Come to interrogate me some more?" she sneered, Ianto pulled the spare chair out from under the table and sat down opposite her

"Why?" his voice was near breaking, he wanted to hate her but he couldn't

"You know why" she replied with disgust looking down her nose at him "All of you have been in all day telling me why I shouldn't have done what I did and that it wouldn't bring them back!"

"Bring who back?" he whispered frightened of the answer

"My children! That monster brought all the other 456 children back but he... he didn't bring mine back!" she choked on her words as tears came to his eyes "How can everyone look at him like he's some kind of hero when he's not! He's not a hero and he didn't deserve to be treated as one! He had to be punished!"

"What about me?" he told her, she blinked surprised by his sad tone

"Who are you?"

"My name is Ianto Jones. I saw what you did, I saw it on TV" he explained, his eyes were shining now "I saw you get up there after you shot Karroe... I saw you firing until you ran out of bullets. I saw you... you..." he sniffed hard "You continued shooting even when that man was covering him. The man you shot was called Jack Harkness and he was... is... to me..." her expression hardened

"So you've come to kill me, then? Because I killed your lover?"

"Jack isn't dead" Ianto told her "But I want you to know that you're just like them. The 456" she roared at him with angry, she tried to stand up but the handcuffs stopped her

"Don't you dare say I'm like them!" he stood up pushing her back into her seat

"But you are! We have children... we have two children just like you did. I imagine your children must have been scared that they were taken away from their mother but you've done that to someone else. You did that to my children! You could have stopped shooting him! You couldn't have not known that you were shooting him and not Karroe... so I'm going to ask you why you wanted him dead so bad?" they were both crying

"Just kill me already" she whimpered as she lay her head back down on the table "I want to be with my children and my husband"

"I'm sorry Suzie but I can't do that... I'm not like you" he told her "Tell me already. Why did you try and kill him?"

"Coz I lost everything. _Everything_" she breathed, her cheek was resting against the table "I had two wonderful little girls and they were taken from me. I did everything to keep them safe but they still came and took them away. They gave them to the 456 and then I lost Phillip. He killed himself... I lost everything and then when _he_ brought the children back I knew that my babies had come back. I waited and waited for that damn list to come out with all the names of the returned children but neither of them were on there! I lost them all over again!"

"I... I..." he wanted to hate her. He wanted to do what the guards had done to her already; smack her round until she was black and blue but when he looked at her all her saw was a broken woman. She wasn't responsible for what had happened, she'd been pushed to it and he could understand her; if he'd lost Taren he would have done the same in her situation

"You said you had children" she sat up meeting his eyes, he nodded slowly "Look after them, love them and tell them how so much better your life is with them in it every day. Make sure they know that... for me and for what I lost. You're lucky"

"I know" he stood up and tucked the chair back under the table

"I hope they all know" she said finally "All the ones who got their children back. I hope they know just how lucky they are in this broken world"

"Thank you Miss Costello. I'm going to make sure that all charges against you are dropped but only on the condition that you don't try anything like this again. Don't be like the 456, don't take away a child's father or mother... because if you do then I'll fill you so full of a drug called retcon that you never remember either of your children. We'll be watching you" he left the room shutting the door behind him.

He took a few steps before he staggered against the wall and slid down it burying his head against his knees

"Sir, are you alright?" the unnamed soldier asked him but Ianto ignored him. He knew that he had to get back to the hospital but he was having a hard time controlling his breathing let alone the ability to walk! "Sir?"

After five minutes Ianto recovered enough to stand up and brush himself off, the soldier was still waiting expectantly

"Make sure she is taken to a comfier cell and given some food, no sharp cutlery. She's to be looked after"

"But sir she tried to kill..."

"I'm aware of that!" Ianto snapped interrupting the soldier "But she's a mother of the 2% unreturned, she lost her children that's why she did what she did. What she did was wrong, yes, but this god damn government pretty much offered it's children up on a plate. Considering this is the first time something like this has happened is a bloody miracle!"

"Yes sir. I'll make sure she's taken care of personally" the man told him. Ianto turned swiftly and walked away to the lift, he was going back to the hospital to spend time with Jack and his family. He suddenly felt so silly for leaving now that he'd spoken with her but at the time it was something he had to do and now all he wanted to do was be there for Jack and for Taren and for Addie.

*

Jack opened his tired eyes, everything ached and his body felt like it was pincushion on fire, a quick look around the room told him he was in hospital. Thankfully it looked like a private room!

He turned his head slightly and saw Ianto sitting in the chair fast asleep with Taren in his arms who was also in the land of nod. It was dark outside and the lights were low in the room but it just made them look so innocent. Jack lifted his arm and slowly reached out to touch Ianto's face.

Ianto smiled in his sleep, he was dreaming that he was at home and Jack was there all safe and sound touching his face; it felt so real and that's what brought him out of his dreaming. He glanced round sleepily before spotting Jack wide awake

"Hey" he greeted him, shifting in the chair slightly before remembering that Taren was still nestled on his lap. Ianto carried Taren to the chairs opposite the bed and lay him down putting his jacket over him so he could sleep before returning to Jack's bedside

"I feel like I've been hit by a truck" rasped Jack, his voice was thick and low but Ianto didn't care. Jack was alive and awake and that was all that mattered

"No" said Ianto shaking his head "Almost lost you"

"Karroe told me to hold on. Said I had to hold on for you" he explained before he coughed roughly

"Jack, I need to get the doctors" he stood up but Jack grabbed his wrist

"One thing, before you go..." he begged looking up at his lover, Jack's blue eyes were a little scared

"Sure"

"Kiss me. I need to know that I'm really back and I'm not dreaming" Ianto smiled as he leaned down pressing his lips against Jack's rough dry ones; it was soft, heartachingly slow kiss between two people who loved each other. Ianto's tears fell onto Jack's face, the former time traveller brushed away a stray tear "Why are you crying?"

"Because I'm not dreaming either" he replied then he went to get the doctors.

TBC...


	17. AuthorsNote

Hey all,

All stories are on hold for the time being. I'm typing this one handed because I accidentally trapped my hand in the door and split my thumb open. It hurts to type so I'm going to rest it and contnue writing once its all healed. Don't think its broken but man it doesn't half hurt! This really sucks, I'm going to go crazy not being able to write! Sorry about this :]

JD


	18. Chapter 17

**SakuraKissy: **Yeah, Suzie makes an appearance and Jack lives. I wanted her in there somehow as a forerunner, I think she got a bad deal in the show and I want her and Ianto to be friends in the future of this fic.

**XxTypoMasterxX: **Sorry to upset you, I'm just as bad when reading fics that aren't complete.

**hotflower901: **Sorry I made you cry. Yeah I kinda wanted to have a POV from someone who wasn't happy that the children had been returned. I'm gonna be very mean with the whole children thing. Blame RTD coz he started it. Yeah the do have security but silly things, they had it out in front of the TW Canary Wharf building.

**Cherry-Anne_Sponge: **He lived because he had something to hold on for. It kinda goes somewhat in depth in this part the whos and whys. Can you really blame Suzie though? Her children then her husband... and then her children all over again.

**Poisoned-Thorns: ***Blushes* aww shucks! Glad ya liked it.

**TheWeddingFairy: **Thanks! Wanted it to be somewhat upbeat after a bit of violence.

**katwinchester: **Aww soggy breakfast! Yeah, it's a child's view of how things should be.

**WickedWitchoftheSE: **I'm a little out of it coz I'm tired but I can't remember if Karroe knows Jack is immortal. Yes it would be more suffering for Jack but when Karroe mentioned Ianto he just had to hold on. Coz Ianto's worth living for. I'm so soppy and sentimental.

**Authors/Note: **I'M BACK!! My thumb is better, want to thank everyone for the kinds words and healing spells and one comment that my mind immediately made into innuendo. I know I should have rested it because I had trouble bending it but I love writing too much. It's still a little pink and itchy and tight when bending but who cares! I'm on a roll! I missed typing properly so that kinda explains why I spent all night typing the rest of this part out. I'm crazy that way! Kinda got a lot to say at the mo! Firstly since I was temporarily out of action I spent a lot of time on youtube. Working my way through German Soap Alles Was Zahlt, seriously if you love slash then you should definitely check it out, imagine all the perks of Janto; the smooches and cuddles but put out round about the same time as Emmerdale. Such amazing tolerance and acceptance! Why couldn't have I been born in Germany? Also want to give a little shout out to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation and the video made by Fursy Teyssier. It's a very moving animation and very sad but an important part of that campaign. I didn't know Sophie personally or any of her friends but since a lot of people I knew/knew/have known/been related to are either goth or alternative then I'm supporting this! Right, now then on with the part! Ianto takes Jack home and it's all very domestic. Did my research (somewhat briefly) for this part, especially when Jack is talking about his past. Warning for anyone who doesn't like really lovey dovey scenes between men then you definitely don't want to read the last few paragraphs! I got a little tearing writing 'The Talk' so you might want to have hankies at the ready. As always read and review, tell me what think even if you hated it and it made no sense and just enjoy it!

http://www*youtube*com/watch?v=qW2ve6_BkRA - Sophie's Video (Please watch it, fave it... stop hate crime)

http://www*youtube*com/watch?v=feaVdIYOQPo - Episode 493/494 (also on the theme of hate crime)

**

* * *

Part Seventeen**

Jack was healing albeit slower than he had gotten used to. The doctors were keeping in the hospital because after five gunshot wounds to the back they wanted him where they could keep an eye on him regardless.

Ianto stayed by his side for the most of it, stayed by him until the doctors and nurses were fed up of Jack always flirting and wandering from his bed leaving the ward. So Ianto took him home, there was some questioning about which home he was taking him to; he wasn't sure if he took him home to Jack's apartment or home to the house with him, Taren and Addiena.

In the end he thought it was best that Jack went home with him where he could look after him properly. The drive home was quick and quiet, Ianto got out of the car and took Taren and Addiena in leaving them in the living room

"Look after your sister for a moment while I take Jack upstairs"

"Aw but I wanted to play with him" the young boy pouted

"Taren..." Ianto sighed as he put the jungle gym over her car seat "Jack is still very ill, yes it's not as bad as when he was in the hospital but he still needs rest so he can get better. Then you can play with him, okay?"

"Okay tad. He's not going to die is he?"

"The doctors wouldn't have let him come home if he was" he explained to his son with a warm squeeze on his shoulder before going back out to the car where Jack was dozing.

Ianto carefully shook him awake, Jack looked tired and bleary eyed but he smiled when he saw his boyfriend standing there expectantly "Let's get you inside"

"Thanks for letting me stay with you while I get better" he told him as Ianto manoeuvred him from the passenger seat and walked him into the house after locking the car. He wrapped an arm around Jack's lower back and helped him up the stairs to the bedroom. Between the pair of them they managed to strip Jack down to his shorts, the bandages stark white and red against his bronzed skin. The bed was inviting as he lay down curling under the blankets, Ianto's scent invading his senses helping him feel comfortable enough to sleep

"You rest, Jack, I'll take care of you" he whispered to the sleeping man, he left Jack to sleep and went down to spend time with his children.

Addiena was getting bigger now, it was such an amazing feeling to watch as she tried to sit up under her own steam. She seemed so much more aware these days as she looked around with those big blue eyes. He wanted to be proud that she'd gotten his eyes but he knew that it was genetically impossible

"Tad, can I go sit with Jack?"

"No. He's sleeping, what you can do is help me make dinner"

"Aww tad..." began Taren interrupting him

"If you help out I'll let you take it up to him, okay?"

"Okay!" he grinned, Ianto did his best not to role his eyes. Taren disappeared into the kitchen leaving Ianto to pick Addie up from the floor and put her in her baby seat before carrying it into the kitchen and put her on the table.

Jack woke up slightly unsure of where he was, he was warm and sleepy and it felt good. It had been a while since he'd felt this cosy and secure, he pushed the blanket down a bit finding that he was in Ianto's room... in Ianto's bed. He could see the Welshman's clothes on one side of the room and on the other he could see Lisa's, it wasn't difficult to see it was her side of the bedroom and it stung Jack because he'd never noticed it before. How had he never noticed that before? Jack suddenly felt like he was passing through.

As he lay there he thought about all that had brought him that and all that he'd done. The Jones had been a family, albeit a slightly unhappy one, but still... he'd come along and disrupted all that. Did loosing Ianto really give him the right to tear a family apart? In the future would Taren miss his mother? Would Addie wonder why she had two dads instead of a mother and father?

The door opening broke him from his thoughts, Taren poked his head round the door before grinning and promptly walking in carefully carrying a tray with a steaming plate of food

"Is that for me" smiled Jack as he slowly sat up, Taren nodded happily before the happy look disappeared from his face. Jack looked down at what he was staring at and saw the blood stained bandages around his middle. Tarry set the tray down before trying to run from the room, Jack grabbed him by the arm then hauled him up onto the bed so the young boy was sat on Ianto's side of the bed "I know it's scary but I'm okay"

"Did it hurt?" he whispered reaching out to touch one of the bandages

"Yeah it did, getting shot is never fun. But I let it happen so I could save someone's life" he told the young boy "And I'd do it again. In a heartbeat"

"Tad was right. I thought you were all better since you were home but you're not are you?"

"No, not quite yet. But I've got your tad and you to look after me and it doesn't take that long for me to heal" he told him stroking Taren's hair. He started on dinner and Tarry sat there watching him

"Are you going to stay after you get better?" he asked Jack who looked up surprised

"If your tad wants me to, I'd like that. If I wasn't replacing your mom" Jack looked back down at his plate feeling sad all of a sudden

"You're not replacing mam, you're better than her. You save people's lives and you make tad happy, he smiles a lot more when you're around. I'd like you to stay and I know if Addie was smart enough to talk she'd say the same"

"Heh, you're a good kid" he ruffled the boy's hair playfully before going back to his dinner. Both of them were unaware that Ianto had been standing in the hall holding Addie and listening to them talking. He'd come up to see what was keeping Taren from his dinner

"Did you have a family before you came here? Coz you're old like tad is but not really old like grandmam... old people have family"

"Yes I had a family, when I was younger I lived with my parents and my brother Gray. Gray's dead now, he died a few months ago... my dad died when I was eleven and my mom... she doesn't know where I am and I doubt I'll ever see her again. I was married as well..." he thought about Sophie and Lucia and all the others he'd lost over the years

"What happened to her?"

"She died of heart disease, I wasn't with her at the end because she left me. Took Melissa and left... I let her because I loved her"

"Who was Melissa?"

"She's my... was my daughter. I did something very terrible to her and now she'll never talk to me again. It's probably for the best that I don't see her again"

"Can't you make up? She could come and live with us" Jack wasn't sure how to explain that she was in a parallel universe or that the terrible thing was murder her only child. Jack wasn't begging for forgiveness on that front because he didn't deserve it, yes he'd saved all those children but at times it felt like it hadn't been worth it. Seeing the look on Alice's face when she'd come through those doors after Steven had died...

Ianto pushed the door open properly with his foot and smiled warmly at Taren who looked a little caught in the headlights

"Your dinner is getting cold, come on, you need to eat it. Tomorrow's a big day, you're going back to school"

"But tad..."

"No buts... downstairs, now" he said a little more firmly. Taren jumped off the bed and sulked out of the room "How you feeling?"

"Better" nodded Jack "Thanks for dinner, you're a really good cook"

"Thanks" Ianto ducked his head bashfully "I heard you talking. I didn't know you were married before"

"More than once" he explained almost sadly

"Were you and Ianto ever... did you marry him?"

"No" Jack looked down feeling sadness well up "In all the years I spent in Cardiff since I joined Torchwood I was never married to a man. It was only women... Sophie and Lucia... there was Estelle but that never worked out..." Ianto couldn't help but feel sorry for Jack, he looked so small and broken. How much had he suffered?

"And your daughter? Was it Melissa or Alice?" he asked. Ianto felt a little guilty about eavesdropping but it hadn't really been intentional

"It was both. Her mother, Lucia, was another Torchwood operative. We tried to be a family but in the end Lucia took her away and they lived under a false name. My daughter's real name was Melissa but she went by Alice. Alice had a son... Steven"

"A grandson? What happened to him?"

"I killed him" he whispered "I killed them to stop the 456. In my universe they were going to take away your sister's children. They were going to take Mica and David and give them to those aliens... I saw what they did with the children. They used the children as drugs... the only way to save all the children they wanted was to sacrifice him..."

"Stop" Ianto ordered, Jack looked up expecting him to be angry but he wasn't. There was only sadness on his boyfriend's face which surprised him, how on earth could Ianto be understanding of that? "I'm going to look after my children and once they're in bed I'm coming back and you can tell me everything"

"I love you" Jack almost sobbed, and he meant it. Ianto was cradling Addie in his arms and he tried to imagine sacrificing a grand child or even one of his children to save the children that had been taken. Suzie Costello suddenly appeared in his mind and even picturing her suffering he knew that he could never make that kind of sacrifice so what had driven Jack to it?

"See you in a bit" he said with a smile then went downstairs to make sure that Taren was eating his dinner and give Addiena her bottle.

*

Jack waited and waited. It felt like Ianto would never come back! He could hear them moving around downstairs then the soft padding of small feet up the stairs; Taren was going to bed not long after that he heard Ianto's footsteps up the carpeted stairs. He listened and he waited. Minutes ticked by then Ianto went back downstairs and the house was quiet.

Straining to hear what his boyfriend was doing downstairs was driving him mad, was he sitting alone trying to think up ways to get away wondered Jack. Half an hour later he heard Ianto coming up the stairs again and he finally came back into the room. Jack watched him strip down to his shorts before climbing into the bed. Ianto held his arms out and he happily slipped into them, mindful of his injuries

"Start at the beginning and tell me everything" ordered Ianto softly.

"When I first got to Cardiff it was in 1869, I was waiting for the Doctor... you remember John Smith? He's a part human clone of the Doctor... the Doctor is an alien from the planet Gallifrey. I travelled with him and Rose for a while but something happened and I got left behind. I knew that the Doctor stopped in Cardiff to refuel his ship every so often so all I had to do was wait for him to show up. I waited for 137 years for him to come, I wanted him to come back so I could go with them again" Jack paused deep in thought and Ianto watching him more than intrigued "I lived rough for a few months until I fell in with a bad crowd, I worked for debt collectors all round South Wales never going far from Cardiff in case I missed him. My Doctor. Thirty years after I arrived I came to the attention of Torchwood, I ended up working for them policing the Rift and the aliens that came through it. I worked for them for several years, I hated it because they were so cruel and uncaring to the beings who came through the Rift. I couldn't do anything because I'd either get tortured, locked up in solitary for a year or shot in the head..."

"A year? Shot in the head?!" gasped Ianto "Why didn't you leave?"

"Because I was waiting for the right kind of Doctor. I was such a fool Ianto but I still think it was worth it because I got to know you in that universe and I was lucky enough to do the same in this one!"

Ianto couldn't help but smile leaning up to kiss him softly, it wasn't about sex or lust it was about passion and caring and it warmed Jack right to the core "I had a brief stint in India in the first decade of the twentieth century as Captain of a squad. I wasn't a very good captain, they all died when we were being transferred by train. I was so broken up that they had been killed under my watch that I returned to Cardiff with hopes to start back at Torchwood. As I was travelling back, my train went through France and I met Sophie. She was beautiful... blonde hair and big brown eyes, I was in love with her from the moment I saw her and it was the same for her. One thing led to another and we were married"

"How long were you married for?"

"Eight years. It was so short and I wish that I'd had more time with her. We had three children together but only one survived... my little boy Antonio. She died giving birth to our daughter..." Ianto looked up when Jack stopped talking. There were tears in the older man's eyes and it was clear that even know after all this time he still missed her, you never forgot the ones you loved. Ianto rubbed Jack's hand before interlacing their fingers together for support, it gave Jack the courage to continue "After Sophie died I took Antonio to Cardiff with me. I had a house built there and we lived there in peace until 1914. Antonio was only seventeen when he went off to war, I did everything I could from him getting conscripted and the little bugger went and signed up! He died eight months before the war ended. He wanted to be just like his daddy, the big war hero"

"Jack..." began Ianto, tears were streaming down Jack's face but he shook them off rubbing them away like he wasn't upset

"I vowed never again. I didn't want to go through that again... I didn't want to fall in love, I didn't want a family because it hurt too much when I lost them. I went back to Torchwood and buried myself in the job. I was cruel just like the people had recruited me back in 1899 and it suited me fine. I served in the war, got myself killed countless times all over Europe... when the war was over I went back to my beloved Torchwood. It was all I could do, I'd lost friends in the war and it took me twenty three years to get over it. I've served in both world wars but the second was the hardest for me. I sacrificed so much and tried to save so many but it was all for nothing, they died anyway and I was still alone. I went back to Cardiff to do Torchwood's dirty work, anything they wanted me to do I did it"

"What changed? Heh, let me guess. You fell in love"

"Yeah. Wasn't planned and I did my best to resist it, but it was a lost cause. Lucia Moretti. She was another agent, she was young and far too innocent for that kind of organisation. She practically adored me, all I had to do was look in her direction and she would be tumbling over herself. I was flattered and thought nothing of trying to bed her... heh, she was only twenty three but she was far wiser than I'd ever been. She refused me and I thought she was just playing hard to get which pissed the hell out of me. I tried harder and harder to get her into my bed until it began to affect work, I became obsessed but all my flirting was useless. In the end I realised that I fallen hopelessly in love with her, I bought her flowers... anything she wanted. I sent about trying to show her how much I loved her. I even got down on one knee promising to love her completely and no one else"

"I can picture it. You are just a bit persistent" chuckled Ianto, Jack began to stroke Ianto's hair softly

"That was me. Persistent to the end. I destroyed her life... when she was pregnant I was over the moon but she was restricted from duty she hated it and began depressed. She took it out on me because I was so happy that we were going to have a daughter. Melissa was born and I doted on both of them like they were the most important people in the universe and to me they were. I had a wife I loved and a daughter that adored me. That was until Melissa was nearly caught in the crossfire, I begged Lucia to stay but she wouldn't listen. She went over my head to the boss and asked to leave, she left and did a good job of disappearing... I didn't see Melissa until 1996. She was getting married and had gone through Lucia's things to track me down. Lucia was furious when I showed up at the wedding, accused me of bringing danger to her family. I told her that Melissa now Alice was my family too and that she'd wanted me there. Lucia and I were always arguing until she was diagnosed with serious heart disease, she never told Alice was she sick until a few weeks before she died in 2006. I still loved her, even though we fought, and I was there when she died. I swore to myself never again, no matter how much I fell in love no matter how happy I could be with someone I decided that it wasn't worth the pain. A few months later I recruited Ianto Jones..." he broke off as he started sobbing. Ianto sat up pulling Jack close as he broke down

"Hey, hey... shh it's okay"

"I loved him. I really, really loved him and I lost him" the tears burnt his eyes blurring out his vision

"I'm sorry Jack" Ianto whispered as he stroked his boyfriend's back avoiding the bandages as best he could; he'd wanted to understand Jack. He wanted to understand why he'd done what he'd done and why he was the way he was and it was breaking his heart, how could one man suffer so much and keep going? How could he live and love when the people he cared about died around him?

"After he died I just didn't want to go on. Nothing mattered to me... I was stupidly convinced to help save the world because that's what I do and I went along with it because I thought I had nothing left to loose and it was what Ianto would have wanted. I was so stupid, I went along with it and found out that I did have things left to loose. I didn't want to do it but it was 10% of the world's children or one boy, it should have been the hardest decision of my life but it wasn't. I do feel guilty for what I did and sad that Steven died but if they'd asked me to put you in Steven's place..." he pulled back to look in Ianto's eyes "I would have let them have the ten percent than loose you. I've lost so many people, I don't want to loose you... and yes, yes I know I will some day but I'd rather have a life with you... it's selfish. I'm selfish and I..."

"Jack, Jack stop" Ianto interrupted him as he put his hand over his lover's mouth, he brushed away some stray tears on Jack's face before leaning closer "I know you should be resting but... make love to me, Jack"

Ianto helped Jack out of his shorts before stripping off his own and laying back. Jack moved over him cradled in Ianto's arms as his hand drifted down between the quiet Welshman's parted legs. He didn't take his eyes off Ianto's face as he prepared him sliding one slicked finger in then another scissoring him slowly. Jack heard him whimper almost desperately as he lifted his hips and knew he was ready.

A quick stroke of lubricant and Jack was ready, Ianto lifted his leg holding it under the knee as his lover lined up. Slowly, oh so slowly he slid inside his boyfriend. So warm, so tight, as he got deeper and deeper until he could go no more.

"Ianto" Jack breathed the name reverently

"Shh, I know. I know" ground Ianto between heavy gasps of air. Jack reached out, balancing himself on one arm, to twine his fingers with Ianto's. He wanted to touch him all over but he settled for holding his hand as he made that first thrust. The younger man did his very best to keep his eyes on Jack despite them rolling back with the warm feeling inside. Full, he felt so full and it was more than good. Full and loved and needed and oh Jack was pushing again, setting a rhythm.

Then his hands were everywhere, Ianto was touching him; his face, his shoulders, his back, down his arms then up back again his fingertips dancing over Jack's lips before tugging him down crashing their mouths together as the pace increased.

If there was ever a moment that Ianto knew he was wanted, that he was loved then this was it. He could hear his heart pounding in his head and it was addictive, he wanted more. He wanted to feel like this all the time; he could feel his impending orgasm coming and he pulled his mouth from Jack's to gasp and cry out "Jack, Jack I love you. I love you"

"I love you too" cried Jack just as wildly as thrusts sped up "God I love you so much"

"Jack I'm..."

"Me too you first" growled Jack, he forced his eyes open against the rolling pleasure to watch Ianto fall over the edge grunting inaudibly then Jack came flooding deep inside his lover. Jack did his best not to collapse down atop of him but slipped out and carefully laid down next to him. Ianto was still panting when Jack pulled him into his arms and he felt safe enough to fall asleep with Jack following him not long after.

TBC...


	19. AN

Hello All !

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. It's not because I have writers block or anything like that. My internet is down and the only way I've been able to let you all know is by doing this at the library. I have a fair few chapters written and ideas for all the stories I have ongoing. I've been writing like crazy these past few weeks, I'm planning to wind down some stories soon because I want to focus more on my original works. I have my first book out there but it's not really going anywhere/making business because I'm not promoting it. This year I want to move away from fan fiction and focus on the promotion of my book and finishing my second novel. I'm torn between having my second story in novel format or making the effort to turn it into a script. I will finish all the stories on here before I do that (or while I'm doing that), you all know what I'm like for multi-tasking!

This year is going to be very busy and I'm re-applying to University and I've applied to work on several different projects around the country. So wish me luck with that!

As soon as my internet is back up, there will be a mass post if I can get my arse in gear and get them out or up or posted… just want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and keep watching this space!

JD

x


	20. Chapter 18

**Passing Bells: **My novel is called All Their Fault... I'm going to be winding things down these new few parts. Probably ten more or so? Then Jack goes back through the void.

**deemama66: **The waiting (I hope) is worth it. I'd promise not to leave things on a cliffhanger but then I'd end up breaking it. I love people's reactions to cliffhangers, especially scary emo angsty ones! Thanks for leaving feedback!

**WickedWitchoftheSE: **Thanks! Happy new year to you too! My computer is all better but now the internet is down! Trekked a mile into town so I could access the wifi at the library! Thank you! I really hope that 2010 is a good year! I hope 2010 is a good year for everyone! :]

**hotflower901: **There's no way of knowing. I like to think that he wouldn't have done especially when in CoE he said 'I take it back, but not him'. Grr, I hate CoE and I hated The End Of Time too because that was just RTD rubbing all the Janto fans' faces in it. Hm, you've lost your lover, killed your grandson, your daughter despises your very existence and you've left the planet because the grief is so bad. You see an old friend whose supposed to be wise beyond his years, do you get comfort from him? No! He tells you to go shag the man sitting next to you coz that's going to make everything all better! Sorry for the rant I was just really pissed off by it!

**Alchemist Rei: **I know there's typos, I should have someone beta it but I've had people beta my stuff in the past and I've never been able to keep up with them. So I just accept my typos; I was told once that typos and grammar mistakes don't matter as long as there's substance and a decent plot. I can't remember who said it but I am more than thankful for that piece of feedback, it's stayed with me and it's one of the things that keeps me writing. I like to think I'm good at what I do, bar the grammar, but a lot of the time I don't believe it...

**Village Mystic: **There will be mention of the rift, right at the very end. Jack is going to have to travel back through the void and he's going to need a Vortex Manipulator and a rift in time and space to do it.

**Authors/Note: **Again, sorry for the delay. This would have been out yesterday but I had food poisoning and was in bed all day. Bit of a leap in time part way through this, I'm trying to wind this down to an ending. There's about ten or so parts left for me to write and some of them are going to be sad. The Doctor makes an appearance... I tried to do my best with continuity for 'Pete's World' so if there's anything wrong please forgive me! Read and Review, as always! Enjoy!

**

* * *

Part Eighteen**

Ianto woke up first to see that Jack was still asleep. He watched his immortal lover for a few moments before the desire to make things... well not quite right because things were okay at the moment, but better. Ianto wanted to make it better for Jack and he got up quickly sliding from the warmth and tugged on his jeans commando. He decided that he was going to make it better for Jack and along the way it became about making it better for the both of them.

Ianto retrieved a roll of bin bags from the cupboard under the sink and returned to the bedroom and started taking Lisa's things out of her wardrobe and chest of draws. Once he filled a bag he started another putting make up and bottles of perfume in there as well not caring if it broke or spoilt the clothes.

When Addie started crying over the baby monitor it woke Jack. He looked around startled before he spotted Ianto

"Will you look after her while I clean Lisa's stuff out of here? I'll go get her and heat a bottle up and you could feed her, is that okay"

"Sure..." he nodded sleepily, his hair was sticking up every which way and running a hand through it didn't help "Ianto, why are you clearing out Lisa's stuff now?"

"Because she doesn't live here anymore and you do. Plus you'll- you'll need stuff for your space, right?" he started out really confident but as Jack just lay there staring at him he got nervous. Jack smiled quickly, his grin shining brightly

"That's right" he agreed, Ianto put the bag down and went to get his daughter. He returned a few minutes later with Addiena in his arms and he carefully handed her over to Jack

"I'll be right back" he mumbled before going downstairs. Taren had been awake for a while and was watching cartoons in the living room, he was more interested in what was happening on the TV than upstairs. As much as he loved spending time with Jack he was getting sick of the new baby crying all the time.

Jack was cooing softly to Addie as she was cradled in his arms. He looked up when he heard Ianto and slowly held out his arm, careful not to aggravate the wounds on his torso, taking the bottle. He checked it on his wrist before nudging the teet at Addie's mouth, she opened hungrily and he started feeding her

"Like that, baby?" he murmured affectionately down at her. Ianto got back to work clearing out Lisa's stuff, he'd call her later and get her to pick up her things.

_Three Years Later_

Jack and Ianto waved as Taren rushed through the gate waving back to them as he ran into the large playground and joined his friends. When he was gone Jack started the car and they headed to work.

He got out of the car grabbing his and Ianto's briefcases while his lover got Addiena out of her car seat

"Tad!" she giggled happily reaching out for him. Jack came round the side of the car after locking it and pressed a kiss to her forehead before kissing Ianto

"I'll see you upstairs, baby" he told him before kissing him again

"Yeah" nodded Ianto as the two headed into the building, splitting up as per their usual morning routine.

Sarah was waiting at the crèche for them, Jack had it installed a month before their daughter turned one so Ianto could come back to work. Many of the employees were wary about a crèche especially after the 456 and the government just handing over the children but Jack made sure they were checked and trained by officials.

"Addie baby!" cooed Sarah as Ianto handed her over "How's my little princess today? You been good for your tad and dada?"

"Sarah!" chuckled Addie as she wrapped her arms around Sarah's neck and bounced in her arms

"You be good for Sarah and the others while taddy's at work" he snuggled against her cheek before pressing a kiss to it

"Byee!" she waved as he left heading back to the lift. The crèche had been built on the ground floor in case of attacks, the children would be evacuated and out as soon as the alarms rang. Ianto rode up to the penthouse where the head offices were.

"Morning Ianto" greeted Tosh after he got off the lift and rounded the corner. The large office cubicle set up had been drastically renovated into four large desks against the negative space and then Ianto's secretarial desk outsides Jack's office which also had an equally large desk and several storage cabinets.

"Morning, Tosh, coffee?" he asked as he moved to his desk, his briefcase was waiting for him and he glanced through the glass wall of Jack's office to see his lover watching him with a big smile on his face

"Can't you eye fuck each other outside of office hours?" groaned Owen as he arrived with Karroe trailing after him.

"And miss the chance to piss you off?" he shot back but there was no malice in it. They'd been working together for too long to try and hurt each other; they were like soldiers. All of them had seen some strange things when they came to work for Torchwood and they depended on each other. They'd become more of a family than work colleagues.

Ianto handed out the coffees to his team mates before taking the tray carrying his and Jack's into Jack's office. He set the tray down and perched on the edge of the desk

"Morning, Captain Harkness" he greeted his boss, his eyes low and his accent thickening

"Good morning Mr Jones. Did you have a good weekend?"

"Yes sir I did. I spent it with my boyfriend and our children"

"How is your boyfriend, Mr Jones?" he leaned forward resting his hand on Ianto's thigh. Oh, how he loved the game they played.

"He's very good, Sir" Ianto smirked glancing at the blinds on the glass wall "I love our children but the thing about having children is that they interrupt certain... extra curricular activities, Sir"

"Oh? Like what?" his fingers inched up Ianto's thigh, closer and closer to his groin. Ianto growled low in his throat

"Like if you don't close those blinds and fuck me right now I'm going to with hold coffee and sex from you for the rest of the day and you're sleeping on the couch tonight" he hissed. Jack jumped up from his seat and went to close the blinds.

Karroe, Tosh, Owen and William saw the blinds being closed and rolled their eyes at one another before putting their headphones on and turned up the music while they were working. They'd gotten used to Jack's nature and gotten used to how that nature had easily corrupted Ianto, so knowing that Jack and Ianto were having sex right now didn't phase them.

Forty five minutes later Ianto came out of Jack's office, with the blinds still drawn, carrying his silver tray under his right arm and sat at his desk to start work. He had several reports to type up while the others started the one year follow up to the 456 returnees.

While Jack had been recovering from Suzie's attack, Ianto had pretty much moved all of Jack's things into his house. Tosh remained in the house that Torchwood had given Jack when he first arrived in this universe and not long after the deed had been transferred to her name did William move in. Karroe was still sleeping on Owen's couch even though a few times they shared a bed, that was happening more often than not despite how much Owen protested that they weren't together.

"Woo!" crowed Karroe and William, they'd become the best of friends. Karroe had officially decided to work at Torchwood and contacted the Shadow Proclamation to request a sabbatical. It hadn't gone down too well, Shadow Mother had sent a squadron of Judoon to make sure that he wasn't under duress. Jack had made him do all the teams paperwork for that one

"Alright, alright. It's not like you've never seen a couple enjoying each other's company"

"Is that what we're calling it now?" smirked Toshiko quietly, sometimes she hated being the only woman on the team. But it was nice that she got along with all the lads, William had been helping her to come out of her shell and she was talking to a special counsellor about her nine years in the UNIT holding facility.

"Maybe if you ask Jack nicely he'll let you and William have a quick go in his office?" he suggested cheekily. She noted how much Jack had been rubbing off of Ianto since they got together. It had been nearly two years since Ianto's divorce had been finalised and she knew that Jack had been dying to pop _the_ question. Jack had come round to her place to show her the ring and ask her opinion on the best time to ask but that had been almost three months ago now, she was desperately hoping he'd ask soon.

"No thanks, that desk is rather uncomfortable" she commented just as Jack appeared in the doorway buttoning his shirt up

"There's always the couch or the easy chair or up against the window" he winked at Ianto who had some decency to blush despite grinning all the same.

"Up against the window?" gasped William, out of all of them he was still slowly getting used to Jack and some of the stories he came out with. Jack didn't talk about his past all that much with them, they were his friends but he was holding them all at a distance to protect them. The only one he truly spoke to and allowed past his well erected defences was Ianto

"Don't tell me you two have never done it up against a window!" he chuckled just before the alarms went off at Karroe's computer. The constant scans of the city had picked up some strange energy readings

"What have you got?" called Jack as he crossed the office floor to Karroe's computer

"Strange energy signatures in Camden. I'm checking the electronic archives to cross reference"

"Good. Tosh, can you patch into the CCTV? Get a visual?" he moved across the space to Toshiko's computer, her fingers were dancing across the keyboard and by the time Jack was standing near her shoulder she'd gained access.

Jack's jaw dropped open when he saw what it was, Toshiko glanced over at him and saw his shocked expression

"What is it? Jack?" she asked but he didn't answer her. He hurried to his office to get his coat

"Karroe, Ianto... with me. The rest of you continue with the 456 evaluation" he ordered them. Ianto tugged on his coat and Karroe fastened his holster tool belt onto his lenim jeans before they followed Jack into the elevator.

*

Camden, Earth. Late 2012 not long before Christmas. He stepped out of his ship and took a deep breath of the air. It was cold and smelt slightly oily. He pulled his leather jacket tight around him, lowered his head and walked away down the street.

He'd always liked Christmas but this year seemed so empty, he'd been travelling along for far too long and he was sure he was still suffering from shell shock or post traumatic stress disorder. There had been people who had wanted to travel with him but he refused, they were not good enough!

"Doctor!" he heard an American voice calling him and he looked up to see three people standing there. His hearts almost stopped when he registered that one of them was a timelord

"What..." he mumbled, before he knew it the one who called his name, the fixed point was running at him pulling him into a hug

"I can see him" whispered Karroe as he took a step forward

"Who are you?" asked the Doctor to the man who was hugging him tightly

"Jack" called Ianto feeling a little jealous. Jack pulled back and looked at Ianto with the biggest grin he'd ever seen

"Ianto! This is the Doctor!" Jack announced to everyone

"Yep, that's me. I'd still like to know who you are"

"We're Torchwood" announced Karroe who was scowling "Who are you? Why can I see you?"

"Kar... we can all see him" Ianto pointed out "If he's the Doctor then why doesn't he look like John?"

"John is his next regeneration..." explained Jack

"I can see into where he's been and who he is" Karroe continued. The Doctor became serious as Karroe walked towards him, Jack stepped aside when he realised they were staring at each other. He stepped back and Ianto reached out to hold his hand, Jack glanced as his boyfriend and smiled.

"You're a timelord" whispered the Doctor "You're like me"

"Is that what I am? A timelord? Are there more like us?" Karroe asked him "My family? My parents? Where are they?"

"There's no one. I thought I was the only one left... I've been alone ever since..."

"Ever since what?"

"They died" Jack interrupted them "All of the Timelords died in the greatest war creation has ever known"

"Wait a minute" Karroe turned away from the Doctor in anger "You knew what happened to my people and you never told me?!"

"I didn't know you were a Timelord. If I did I would have tried to contact the Doctor!" he snapped "I think it's time we went back to the Tower. Doctor, if you'd come with us"

"And why should I do that?" he smiled highlighting the large scar on his face

"Because I know how you feel about guns and I don't really want to get mine out" Jack snarled. The four of them walked towards the SUV. Karroe and Doctor sat in the back while Jack and Ianto sat up front talking

"So he's John's previous regeneration?"

"I take it you meet me in the future? This isn't going to cause a paradox is it?" Doctor asked from the back seat

"I'm from parallel universe. In that universe I travelled with you" he explained, casually waving his right hand while keeping his left on the wheel "Long story short, something happened and you caused a two way biological meta-crisis. A part human clone grew out of you and a woman named Donna Noble... the Doctor, my Doctor, left him in this world with a companion of yours. Rose Tyler"

"Never heard of her"

"No, well you wouldn't have because in this reality she never existed. But she's here now, she was trapped here a long time ago and you suggested that your human clone stay with her. They're together now and they've gone out into space. John built a ship, it's not the Tardis but it's enough for them to travel to distant planets and Rose left me in charge of Torchwood"

"You still haven't explained what Torchwood is" the Doctor pointed out

"We monitor alien activities here on Earth. Anything that comes our way we find out if it's a threat, there's been a few incidents since I took over"

"So you're like police. With guns?" he inquired darkly

"Doctor, we try to be bigger on the inside" mumbled Jack, Ianto recognised that look. He reached over putting his hand on Jack's thigh, the Doctor honed in on that detail but remained quiet. Casting a sidewards glance at Karroe, the Doctor gave him the once over, it had been a very long time since he'd seen another Timelord and this one wasn't quite right.

There was something about Karroe that wasn't completely Gallifreyan. Yes, the young man was the same species as him there was no doubt about that but the Doctor couldn't quite put his finger on what was so different about him.

Jack steered the car into the garage, parked it and all of them got out. Karroe led the way to the lift so Ianto and Jack could hang back talking quietly as they walked hand in hand

"Are you okay?" Ianto asked

"I should be asking you that" he shot back with a tight smile "You know how much the Doctor means to me"

"Yeah, I know. I remember how you were with John. I know you love him but I'm not worried... he's your Lisa"

"What a funny way to put it, but yeah you're right. He's my Lisa. I love him even though it was never good for me" he shook his head "I have you... you're the reason I'm here, nothing he could do could make me feel even half as much as I do for you"

"Planning on getting lucky tonight?" he chuckled as that familiar smile appeared on Ianto's face

"Hadn't thought about it but if you're offering"

"Guys, time and place. I don't think the Doc here is ready for either of you full on"

"Good" laughed Jack as they stepped into the lift, winking at Ianto "Because there's only one man for me"

"Are they always like this?" the Doctor asked Karroe somewhat rhetorically, Karroe just rolled his eyes

"Not always. I have a feeling that Ianto was pretty normal before Jack came along, he's been a bad influence, that flirty behaviour rubbing off on Ianto"

"That's not all I'd like to ru-"

"Jack!" cried Karroe trying to save his poor ears "Spare us the details! It's bad enough hearing your mid morning office meetings and your pre-home time coffee breaks!"

TBC...


	21. Chapter 19

**hotflower901: **If all days started out like that... yeah, Karroe's a timelord. But he's not had the education the other timelords had so he's a bit... blurry with time and space.

**Smori: **I shouldn't have brought the Doc in but I couldn't help myself. Prepare for serious angst

**katwinchester: **I can't be sure (coz I'm not RTD) but it seems like he did it out of spite. I get he might be annoyed with the fans but it seemed like he was rubbing CoE in our faces. That's one thing you should never, ever do... don't piss off the Fans.

**Poisoned-Thorns: **Glad it did, jumps in time can sometimes be dodgy 0.o

**DoctorWhoXTorchwood: **He won't meet her but there's the other people on Jack's team. They're all healing in some form or another and hopefully the Doctor will be around long enough to draw on that. It'll be interesting to see (briefly, coz this is near the end) what the Doctor would be like if he never met Rose Tyler. Or if he did. Hehehe!

**Village-Mystic: **Things have progressed, albeit quickly with the three year thing, but they got there. They're comfortable and Jack's ready for bigger things... hm innuendo right there.

**WickedWitchoftheSE: **Yeah, some people said it worked, I like to think it did.

**TheWeddingFairy: **Here's the next part!

**XxTypoMasterxX: **It takes two to tango, Jack maybe dirty minded but Ianto let's him play ;]

**deemama66: **Aww, shucks, thank you! *Blushes* I think this classes as the ultimate AU because it's in an AU... it was funny in my head. Sorry. Not trying to torture you hun, just like cliff-hangers. Is there a term for people like that? Cliffers?

**reddevilpoes: **I think it's only harrassment if one person doesn't want it. Beware, there's cuddling.

**Authors/Note: **Again, beware, there's cuddling. I'm BACK! Yay for fixed internet! No more trekking all the way to the library in town to update! This part very nearly didn't end up getting posted, I was having my dinner and some of it got stuck going down and I choked but luckily I'm okay and cheered up because I'm alive and I'm updating. Damn chop suey roll bean sprouts! Just want to let everyone know that I've started leaving little status updates on my main profile page for where I'm up to, so check there every now and again if you're hoping for an update! Finally in this part, Jack wants bigger things and Ianto gives them to him... (pffftthahah innuendo again). The Doctor gets to see Torchwood and Torchwood gets another visitor. As always read and review and enjoy!

**

* * *

Part Nineteen**

Toshiko was watching the CCTV footage of the lift as she stood behind William. He was sat down tapping out a message to have the 'ship' the person, Jack, Ianto and Karroe had rushed out to bring in, owned. It would be in the docking bay in twenty minutes.

"I wonder who he is. He looks human"

"That means nothing" Owen pointed out. It was more than common knowledge tht he was sleeping with an alien, despite said alien looking remarkably human.

"Whoever he is, he got Jack fairly riled up. Do you think he's dangerous?"

"Jack?" inquired William with a knowing smirk, Tosh rolled her eyes and swatted playfully at him

"So you reckon he's an alien?" she asked Owen. Owen shrugged, anything was possible! "Hm, whatever he is I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. Jack shares everything with us, even stuff we don't want to know about"

Toshiko sighed, she knew that only she, herself, and Ianto knew about why Jack shared everything with his team. This team was made up of people he'd lost in the other universe and people he'd come to know and respect in this one. Watching the banter between the newcomer and her boss it was clear to see that they knew each other... it was almost like the behaviour between Jack and John before he left the planet. Was he a relative of John's? Is that how Jack knew him?

The elevator reached their floor, the foursome stepped out and came into the main office of Canary Wharf

"Welcome to Torchwood" announced Jack

"Do you have to keep saying that every time we enter a new room?" the Doctor inquired, Jack pouted and went to hang his head until he felt Ianto lovingly squeeze his shoulder and toss him a smile

"Alright, Doctor I'd like you to meet my team. Ianto, could I get a coffee in my office?" he asked with a smirk and he hurried to his office to hang his coat up and close the blinds; it was partly for rewarding Ianto but after that he wanted to talk to the Doctor in private and explain things.

Jack sat down at his desk and leaned back in the high backed leather office chair. The Doctor was here, but not his Doctor because he'd never met Jack in this universe and not John because he was with Rose in outer space. Would this Doctor tell him the same things that John had told him? He wasn't sure if he could handle hearing that again, after all he still had that letter.

Glancing down at the draw that contained the letter Jack sighed deeply before pulling it out and taking it out of the envelope he kept it in

"_Dear Jack, I know that I'm not the Doctor anymore. I know that all I am is John Smith but I still have all the memories that the real Doctor has. I remember telling you that you were a fixed point in time and space and even now when I look at you I can see it. Whatever Rose did to you in your universe it's carried over here. You still won't be able to die and at some point you're going to need to return to the universe you came from. You don't have to go right away, knowing you you'll probably ignore everything I'm telling you now. _

_But Jack, I also have to tell you that the people who were around you in the other universe will be drawn to you... the people you worked with will feel drawn to you unexplainably and they'll answer that pull. What you decide to do about it is up to you; just know that there is a possibility that people you've never met will come because you would have had a connection to them in your universe. It's all a bit hazy now that I'm human so maybe I'm not very clear on temporal dynamics anymore. _

_I know that this is something that you're going to find difficult to hear but when the reason you came here, when he passes away you have to go back to our universe. You can't stay here. Find someone clever enough to build you a Vortex Manipulator and travel back through the void. _

_As for me and Rose we feel that pull to you but the need to leave is far greater, I don't know if we'll ever come back. Our world is out in the stars and it's where we need to be. I know you of all people can understand this and forgive us for not returning. We'd only return if it got to dangerous or if we started a family (or both). But if or when that time comes we're entrusting you with Torchwood, look after it and be bigger on the inside. _

"Jack?" he dropped the letter in his hands and looked up to see Toshiko standing in his doorway holding the door open "I knocked but you didn't answer. Can I come in?"

"Yeah" he nodded before rubbing his hand over his face. She came in and sat on the edge of his desk and looked pointedly at the letter. He folded it slowly, put it back in the envelope and put it back in his draw

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I was just reading a letter John wrote me before he left with Rose" he explained and she nodded

"Trying to get an idea how to handle the Doctor?" she inquired "He is John's former regeneration isn't he? After all the six steps of..." Jack nodded his head as he got up from his chair and lay down on his little two seater leather couch and propped his feet up on the arm

"I doubt I could ever find a way to 'handle' the Doctor even if the Doctor himself wrote a detailed instruction manual" he explained which made her chuckle "No, him being here reminds me that one day I'll have to leave"

"Leave?" gasped Toshiko "You can't leave us! You've saved all of us... and-and... what about Ianto? He's your family! You love him... how can you say that you're going to leave us?

"Not now, my oriental princess, but sixty or seventy years from now when you're all gone. When Ianto has passed away and I'm all alone. I have to go back through the void to the universe I came from"

"Jack..." she suddenly felt unbelievably sad for him. He was imprisoned, walking around every day in his own personal cell that kept him at a distance from everyone and everything else.

"And he's right. I have to leave, I don't want to stay here... it hurts too much to think about it"

Someone clearing their throat got both of their attention and they turned to see Ianto standing in the doorway with a angry scowl darkening his features he was holding two cups of coffee

"Tosh, can you leave me and Jack alone, please" he demanded quietly, his tone concealing his feelings. She quickly slipped past him and shut the door behind her leaving them alone to talk.

"Ianto..." began Jack but Ianto ignored him as he marched over to the desk and put the mugs down on the blotter before turning round and glaring at his lover

"When were you going to tell me? That you don't want to stay here? Am I really that much of a disappointment to you? Is it because I'm not like the one you lost? God! I'm jealous of myself! What am I going to tell the kids? Oh, sorry Tarren! Sorry Addie! Daddy left because he didn't want to stay here!"

"Ianto!" growled Jack as he got up, his temper flaring to match his lover's "I was talking about the future! When you..." he trailed off, the fight and anger leaving him

"When I... when I what?" hissed Ianto

"When you leave me. When you've lived your life and moved onto somewhere I can't follow. When I lose you" he sank down on the couch and buried his head in his hands mumbling into his palms "It destroyed me when I lost you the first time and I'm going to have to go through it again; I keep telling myself that the life I'm having with you is going to be worth the pain and suffering I'll have when I loose you... I don't want you to go, I don't want to live my life without you!"

"You're not going to"

"Yes! Yes, I am. You can live your life with me but I can't live my life with you and John reminded me of that. Now the Doctor's here and he's going to say the exact same things!"

"Jack" Ianto whispered his name reverently as he came and sat down next to him "You've kept this inside for a long time haven't you?"

"Centuries" replied Jack as he leaned into Ianto's open arms

"We should have a break from work. Just you and me and the kids... we'll go somewhere and I'll do my best to remind you of why I'm never going to leave you"

"But..."

"I'll always be with you Jack Harkness because you'll never forget me"

"I won't. Ever! I'll never forget how much I need you... how much I love you... how much I want to marry you" he whispered in his lover's ear. Ianto's eyes widened in surprise

"Jack..." he began trying to form words in answer to that but his mind had gone haywire. Jack pulled out a little navy satin box and popped it open revealing a manly looking engagement ring inside

"I've been trying to find the right time for weeks to ask you. Marry me, Ianto"

"I-I..." he took the box and stared down at the ring in shock, he never imagined that Jack would do something like this. Ianto had been pretty sure that Jack was happy with how things were but apparently he'd been wrong and damn, he couldn't take his eyes off that ring "Yes"

"Wha?" Jack mumbled, Ianto had been so quiet he hadn't heard his answer right

"Yes" repeated Ianto much louder this time as he pulled the band out of the box and slid it onto his finger "Yes!"

Jack pulled him into a fierce hug then kissing him before pressing him back down onto the little two seater couch and ran his hands under the suit jacket

"If it's okay with you. I'd really like to make love to you now" he told Ianto, who just smiled a smile that could rival Jack's hundred megawatt grin

"I'd really like you to" he answered before pulling Jack down for another bruising kiss.

Outside the others rolled their eyes again. Karroe tossed the Doctor a spare set of ear plugs before reaching for his own

"What are these for?"

"Well from the yes, Yes, Yes! it sounds like they've just made up whatever they were arguing about. Which means they're most likely about to have sex and believe me they can get noisy and loud... very loud" explained Owen

"I thought he was joking. You mean that they're actually having sex?" he glanced at the door and closed blinds

"I think it's sweet, they love each other so much. I wonder if Jack finally popped the question"

"Question?" Karroe, Owen and William demanded all of them turning their attention to her

"Jack's got an engagement ring, he's had it for weeks. If he has then it's about time" she told them before quickly putting in her plugs when she heard a string of 'oh god's'.

*

Ianto lay with his head pillowed on Jack's naked chest, feeling completely sated and content. He couldn't wait to tell his friends and the kids that daddy was going to marry him!

"What are you thinking about?"

"Telling everyone... the team, the kids... heh, even after all this time I still can't believe a man like you could want me" Jack sat up slightly meeting his eyes

"I hope I haven't given you reason to doubt what I feel for you"

"No, not at all, Jack, it's just... you're you and I'm..." he trailed off words failing him "You've been out across the universe, you've seen things I could never even begin to imagine and..."

"And after all that I love you" Jack interrupted him before Ianto could self-deprecate himself further. He ran his fingertips through Ianto's hair as they lay together "All the wonders of the universe mean nothing to me. It's this; right here, right now that matters to me... lying with you, holding you after making love" the silence comfortably stretched out between them until Ianto broke it after ten minutes

"We should get dressed" he suggested, despite the warmth from his lover he'd gone cold. Jack huffed a sigh, there were times that he wished he could just be with Ianto all the time like that and not have to worry about time ticking away.

Ianto picked up his boxer shorts and went to look for his trousers while Jack got a clean shirt out of the little cabinet on the other side of the room, something stopped him with one leg in his trousers and he looked up to see Jack staring at him intently "What?"

Jack had watched Ianto hunt for his clothes and it hit him just how much he wanted, no, needed Ianto Jones. The Doctor was in the next room, the _Doctor_! A creature that was quite often described as the stuff of legend and yet all he wanted to do was be with a regular human; Ianto's superiors, before Jack took over, had pretty much said he was nothing special. But he was! He was special! All the things he'd done... no, it was more than that. Just Ianto... in this universe and the other one, there was no way to seperate them. The lines had blurred and he'd never loved anyone as much as he did this man before him

"I..."

"Jack? You're scaring me, what's wrong?"

"Nothing" he shook his head before rising to his feet and crossed the room to cup his lover's face in his hands "I-" he choked on the words and he had to suck in a breathe for courage to continue "I love you"

"I love you too Jack" he answered as a small smile brightened his worried face "Now can I put my pants on?"

"Yeah, sorry" Jack pulled away and surreptitiously wiped a stray tear away. Ianto fastened his trousers and tugged his shirt up over his arms

"You were thinking of him, weren't you, the other Ianto?" he guessed, all the happiness he'd felt when Jack asked to marry him turned cold and hollow "You were asking him to marry you"

"What?" gasped Jack, his head jerking up in disbelief

"You didn't even deny it" Ianto sank down onto the leather couch looking forlorn and heartbroken

"I can't, you're right. But not in the way you think"

"Not in the way I think?!" snapped Ianto, he fastened up his buttons and hunted for his shoes "I'm not staying here when you want someone else. I've been with someone who used me for the ends and I won't let that happen again, not with you!"

"Ianto! Ianto!" Jack stopped him before he left the office "I wish he was you and I wish you were him... all the things I saw in him I see in you and all the things you are, were the things he could have been. I love you both because there's just no seperating the two of you now, it would be madness to try"

"Jack" whispered the upset Welshman, his eyes were sparkling with tears

"I'm marrying you... again, if you'll have me"

"You know I do" he said with a sigh "I'm going to go down to the canteen and get pastries then I'll get back to work"

"Okay. I'm gonna get dressed then talk to the Doctor" Ianto flashed him a smirk as he took his time finishing getting dressed

"Should I be jealous?" he asked, he knew that the Doctor was the person he least had to be jealous of. Hell, they both knew it.

"Yeah, totally jealous" winked Jack as he settled himself in his desk chair and Ianto left.

The Doctor watched Ianto walk out of the office with his eyes averted from the rest of the team and out down the hall to the lifts. Jack came out a few minutes later wearing a new shirt and had a warm smile on his face. The Doctor opened his mouth to say something but he was beaten to the punch

"Well?!" cried Toshiko, interrupting him before he spoke "What did he say?"

Jack's face slowly morphed into a scowl and he pulled out the little blue satin box and tossed it to her, she caught it easily and felt tears come to her eyes "Oh Jack, I'm so sorry"

"Open it" Karroe urged her, he shared a glance at the Doctor who nodded. Tosh watched them interact and became confused, doing as she was told she opened the box to find it empty

"Wha... oh my god, Jack! He said yes! You sneaky..." she stepped around her desk and rushed him, he grinned as he enfolded her in his arms

"Believe congratulations are in order" Owen agreed as the others came to hug him.

***

She'd seen the building before, a thousand times on the TV and on the news and she'd always dismissed it. But these past few months she'd felt a pull and it had slowly become unbearable, she'd lie awake at night and feel like something was missing.

She wandered up the steps and into the building, the guards behind the desk gave her a funny look and for a moment she mirrored them. Who the hell was she going to ask for? She didn't know anyone here, never been here before in her life!

"Help you?"

"Um, I dunno" she confessed "Is there someone I could talk to? Someone in charge?" the guard she'd spoke to glanced at her clothes knowingly then radioed the head of security to come down

"Staff Sergeant Spooner will be down shortly, he's in charge of security for all departments" explained Bill the security guard before pointing to a nicely decorated area off to her left "Please, if you'd like to wait in the waiting area"

"Thank you" she said finally before she made her way over to the waiting area and sat down to wait for him. While she was sat there she tried to figure out what she could say to the security guard.

Ten minutes later a man dressed in military fatigues appeared from the lift talking to a pretty Japanese girl carrying a heavy duty looking toolbox, they split near the desk. The woman moving to the main reception desk while the man continued over to her

"Hello, I'm Staff Sergeant Spooner, but you can call me William, everyone else does. How can I help?" he asked her as he shook her hand. She cleared her throat trying to come up with some decent excuse but found none so she decided for the truth

"I know this is going to sound weird but I'm supposed to be here" she explained, she was about to say more when the pretty, shy Japanese woman came over staring at her like she'd grown an extra head

"I know you" Toshiko announced as she stared at her, William glanced back and forth between her and his girlfriend and wondered how they knew each other

"You do?" gasped the unnamed woman

"Yeah" Tosh continued "I think you'd better come with me. Will, call down another technician to deal with the computers in reception. I'm going to take Gwen to see Jack" she told him before turning back to Gwen "If you'd like to follow me"

"How do you know my name?" Gwen asked as she followed the woman to the lifts, Tosh didn't reply.

TBC...


	22. Chapter 20

**Camille12345: **Glad you enjoy it and sorry it's a bit lovey dovey, I think that's my hopeless romantic shining through. It'll get a thorough beating with a lot of angst and tragedy, promise! **  
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**WickedWitchoftheSE: **I don't know exactly what to do with Gwen. She's only here coz of the pull plot I'm trying to work... she's a plot device. I just imagined Gwen as a bread maker or pasta machine... **  
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**Smori: **Yeah they're gonna get married. Gwen is going to be small potatoes, it's not that I don't like Gwen it's just I hate the implication that she was better than Ianto. By the way, gotta say I love your Chii icon. Chobits is one of my favourites, years ago I decorated a pair of jeans with all my favourite things from Japanese culture (the music, the anime, the yaoi etc) but then I lost weight and the jeans no longer fit. But I still keep them because I managed to do one awesome drawing of Chii on the back of the right leg! **  
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**socalrose: **I'm glad too, but it's a bit ditzy. I bloody hate Virgin internet... it comes and goes as it pleases :(**  
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**hotflower901: **Glad you liked the proposal, it's rather a weird thing for me to write about. I know what you mean about Gwen but don't worry, there will be no coming between the Janto goodness. I won't allow it! :)**  
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**Village-Mystic: **I'm determined to continue this to the end, no matter what. I've had the ideas of how this ends in my head for a very long time. It won't be long now but I do have to admit that I'll be really sad when it's over. I hate ending stories and I hate when characters die... yet I love people's reactions when they read it. 

**DoctorWhoXTorchwood: **She won't, don't worry! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy! :]**  
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**XxTypoMasterxX: **Gwen is for the moment a plot device, she might fall for Jack but this is my story. Yes they aren't my characters, except the kids, Spooner and Karroe, but I'm playing with them and there will be no Gwack here. Even if she does fall for him I won't allow Jack to even give her the time of day! **  
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**katwinchester: **She appears at the most crucial time! Right near the end! **  
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**deemama66: **It'll be a while for the wedding. I'm not going to rush it... other stuff has to happen first and it's not going to be pretty. Have to warn you on that... after this chapter it's going to be serious tissue warning! Stock up! I'm gonna be really mean. **  
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**reddevilpoes: **Glad you like it, I suppose too much sex would be unable to walk. I don't think they'd be that bad on a daily basis... maybe for the honeymoon since it's a special occasion? **  
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**Authors/Note: **I am so sorry that this was so long awaited. RTD and TW and DW have made me so tragically aware of mortality and that's not really a good thing for depression! I've been in a bit of a funk lately but this is gonna change! I'm moving forward, kicking my life into action and turning things around... I've done it tonnes of times before and I can do it again. Part of that is to exercise my moods out with my writing so enjoy this chapter and seriously brace yourselves for the next one because it's going to be rough and I advice you to proceed with a lot of tissues! Alright! This part... everyone pays Jack a visit! Gwen and Ianto explore the pull and Addie draws her family; this is kinda fluffy! As always read and review and just enjoy! **  
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* * *

Part Twenty**

Jack had been explaining how he knew the Doctor, it was a little difficult since he was telling him about a woman he'd never met because she'd never existed here. Despite that their conversation was going okay until there was a knock at the door, Toshiko walked in followed by Gwen Cooper bloody Williams.

She stood there looking around the room nervously, Toshiko backed out of the office but subtly left the door open so the others could hear. Jack had stopped mid sentence and rose to his feet

"Gwen?"

"Yeah, that's me. Who are you? Why do I feel such a... pull to here?" she blinked before glancing at the man sitting opposite from the man she presumed was Jack

"It... it's not to here. It's to me..." he whispered, he looked away as tears came to his eyes "It was all true. One day I'll have to go back, I don't want to"

The Doctor stood up and moved closer to her, giving her the once over looked at Jack before looking back at her

"Those weird lines around you, are around her. I've noticed that since you brought me here; they're around the rest of your team. Like they've been covered in gold spray paint... Ianto is covered in it the most. After him, it's Toshiko and Owen and... well her"

"Me? Gold spray? What are you talking about? Would someone please tell me what's going on because I have no idea. I've been feeling this for months now and today I just got on a train not knowing where I was going and came here and I want to know why!"

"This is going to be hard to believe" began Jack as he came round the desk "I'm from a parrallel universe and there I knew you. You worked for me... I know everything there is to know about you Gwen Cooper"

"I'm being drawn to you because you knew me in a different universe? What a load of rubbish! Tell me the truth"

"It's the truth" interjected the Doctor

"Yeah and who the fuck are you?"

"The Doctor" he replied darkly. Jack sighed as he took a step towards her, she took a step back away from his entreating hand

"Something happened to me in this other universe and because I knew that version of you, you now are being drawn to me. Just like every person in the next room, some feel it more than others"

"What happened to you? What is causing this?"

"I'm a fixed point in time and space, you're being drawn to me because you're apart of my timeline. Reality is just compensating because I'm here now instead of the universe I belong in" he explained his eyes flickering down "Or that's what I've been told. I don't know exactly how it works"

"Yeah that's about the sum of it" the Doctor added chuckling "Just be grateful that you can't see it! It's giving me a headache"

"So what does this mean for me? Will this 'pull' go away?"

"No" said the Doctor, staring at Jack as he spoke. Gwen slowly took a step forward, lifting her hand reaching out to touch Jack's cheek. She stopped when someone grabbed her hand, she turned to see a smartly dressed man standing between her and Jack. He'd appeared out of nowhere

"Just because it won't go away does not mean you should act on it" he told her, his accent had a deep welsh lilt to it and she slowly lowered her hand away from Jack.

Jack felt himself caving inwards with sadness; he felt responsible for them all and it was like history was repeating itself. How could he live knowing that if things carried on, Owen and Tosh... and Ianto... Ianto... they would... He'd send them away, he'd do anything just so that didn't happen again!

"My name is Ianto Jones, I'm Captain Harkness's personal assistant. I'll find you somewhere to stay in the city and then we'll make arrangements. It's probably best that you contact your family" he told her. Gwen's eyes went wide and she hurriedly pulled her phone out of her back pocket and wandered out of the room.

***

Ianto parked the SUV outside one of the secured houses set up by Torchwood and got out, mirroring Gwen's movements. She looked around the street before following him into the building

"How long have you worked for Torchwood?" she couldn't help but ask

"I've been with the company for years. My wife... ex-wife suggested I apply for the job in archives because she worked there. I was promoted a year ago to become the acting CEO's personal assistant"

"That's quite a jump" she commented as they both stepped into the lift

"Yes, it is. But sleeping with said CEO does have it's perks" he smirked, Gwen fell silent until it clicked who the acting CEO was

"But that's..."

"Yes. We've just got engaged" he told her rather happily "Literally. He asked me to marry him today"

"Congratulations" she replied feeling strange, he'd mentioned an ex-wife so she couldn't help but feel a little confused. No wonder he stopped me from touching him, mused Gwen, had there been a Ianto Jones in that other universe as well? She shook her head, shaking off the idea that Jack had come from another reality

"Are you okay?" he asked her when she fell quiet, she nodded before changing her mind by shaking her head

"I keep thinking about what Jack said about the other reality, about there being another me there. Is there another you in his reality?"

"There was" Ianto told her, his voice low

"Was?" she repeated "What happened to him?"

"I think we best discuss this inside, I'll make us something to drink" he stated and she watched him walk away into the safe house. Gwen followed Ianto wondering why he seemed suddenly so sad

"Ianto?" she said as she grabbed his arm, stopping him from going through the motions of making coffee "Please, tell me what happened?"

Ianto looked up at her; something sparked inside him and he knew she felt it too. It wasn't like how they felt when they were with Jack, it was more of a warm feeling of de ja vu from running into someone you hadn't seen in a very long time

"He died. The Ianto in Jack's reality died and Jack came here hoping to find him again, hoping to find me and he did..."

"Oh, Ianto" she pulled him close wrapping her arms around him just like she would when one of her children was crying

"Sometimes I'm amazed by how much he loves me, how much hope and love and trust he put into finding me again and other times I see him looking at me like I'm a total stranger. We're happy together and he told me that he can't really seperate the other Ianto and me but I can tell and it hurts me because I feel like I'm not good enough, that I can't be the man he was looking for and then I start thinking about all the other realities out there and maybe there's another Ianto that would be better than me and he's wasting time with me when he could be there with him and-"

"Ianto, Ianto! IANTO!" shouted Gwen interrupting his intensifying rant before it really got carried away "Did Jack say that he wanted to find another, better Ianto? Did he say he wanted to marry another Ianto? I don't know how I know this but he never married the Ianto that was in his reality, did he? He didn't tell him he loved him either"

"How d'you know that?" whispered Ianto, his eyes sparkling on the verge of turning red and puffy

"I don't know. I just do... it's like I've always known it" she replied, Ianto chuckled and looked away

"If you're going to tell me that you're a princess and my sister and my father is really Darth Vader I'm leaving" she chuckled and shoved him back playfully. Ianto wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his shirt then turned and busied himself making the coffee, Gwen left him to it and went to look around the safe house. It was a nicely decorated space but she couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't just stuck her in a hotel for the night.

***

Addie was in the middle of making a tall tower of blocks when Jack knocked at the door, as soon as she saw her daddy she swung out her hand knocking the blocks down and clambered to her feet to rush over as fast as her little legs could carry her

"Daddy! My daddy!" she called, Sarah opened the door and he met Addiena half way and swung her up into his arms. It had become somewhat of a habit to visit her in the nursery while Ianto was out getting lunch for the team; Jack knew that he was spoiling her by visiting her during the day but Addie reminded him of Alice when she was a baby.

"Hey, baby, did you have a good morning?"

"Yeah, I made a tower and draw'ed you and taddy a picture" she told him. Sarah watched Jack with the little girl who was effectively his daughter; she loved how doting he was with her even though they weren't blood related.

Jack carried Addie to where she was pointing and they went through the pictures until they found the one she'd done; it was rather good for a three year old's picture. There was two oblonged squiggles with sticks for arms holding hands and two smaller oblonged squiggles between them

"That's me, that Tarry, that's you and that's taddy" she said as she pointed them out. She's even drawned a red tie on Ianto's squiggle

"It's beautiful, baby, we'll have to get a photo frame so I can put it on my desk"

"Really?" her eyes went wide, he told her only really special pictures ended up on his desk. Jack nodded loving how easily it was to please Addiena, his comm beeped distracting him from his daughter. He tapped it

"Hello?"

"Jack, where are you?" it was Tosh, she sounded a little frazzled

"I'm in the nursery with Addie, Tosh" he answered her "Why? What's wrong? Has something happened to Gwen and Ianto?"

"No, no. They got to the safehouse okay"

"Is it the Doctor?" he asked her running through his list of people that would cause Tosh to contact him.

"Jack for god sake would you just shut up so I can tell you!" snapped Toshiko fed up of him interrupting her. When he fell quiet she calmed down enough to tell him "It's Lisa. She's here and she's waiting for you in your office"

"Oh... I'll be right up" he said then tapped his comm off.

Sarah watched Jack get up and walk out of the room, she smirked to herself as she watched him go then five minutes later he came back handing Addiena to her "You be good for Sarah and taddy and I will take you out for ice cream!"

"Yay! Bye daddy!" she waved as he left the room again.

Lisa was waiting for him in his office like Tosh said. He looked round his team and noticed that Karroe and the Doctor weren't sitting at Karroe's desk talking any more. Owen noticed him looking and nodded his head

"They went down to the canteen. They've got a lot to talk about" he said, Jack nodded his head to his third in command knowing that this must have put Owen on edge, even if he didn't show it, before he turned and went into his office.

Lisa was looking out the large window, one hand on the window frame as she took in the view. She startled when she heard the door shut behind her and Jack was standing there.

"Hello, Lisa, you're looking well"

"So are you" she replied politely as she came round the desk to sit down in one of the chairs. Jack sat down leaning back in his leather chair and waited for her to explain why she was here "I'm getting married"

"Congratulations" Jack answered her before leaning forward bracing his arms on his desk "That doesn't explain why you're here or why you felt the need to tell me"

"I'm also pregnant"

"If I'm not the father then I still don't get why you're here" he continued after she added the little bombshell. Was she here to tell him that she was going to have the baby and give him or her to Ianto like she had done with two children she'd had previously

"I'm still Taren and Addiena's mother legally" Lisa began as she picked up her bag, Jack's eyes widened

"You signed all custody over to Ianto, you can't be meaning to contest that _now_" he gasped suddenly worried for his family. Lisa scoffed as she shook her head, she pulled the papers out and laid them down on the desktop. At the very top were copies Taren and Addiena's birth certificates

"Hardly" she quipped "I'm still listed as their mother. I want that to change... I never wanted to marry Ianto and I never wanted Taren or Addiena; all that happened because I was young and because of my parents views. It's different now, I've found someone I love and I want to start a family with him. I don't want Taren or Addiena turning up in a few years time wanting to get to know me, I don't want anything to do with them. I want you and Ianto to adopt them legally so I can be removed as a parent"

Jack couldn't help but feel like Christmas had come early, someone was giving him the chance to be Taren and Addie's real father but he also felt bad for the kids. How did he explain to them how Lisa wanted nothing to do with them; he knew that Taren felt the same but what about Addiena? How would she feel growing up without a mother?

"Why did you come to me with this? Why not Ianto?" he asked

"I did but Ianto wasn't here. He still works for you doesn't he... promoted rather quickly through the ranks" she smirked knowingly

"You're not the only one getting married. I proposed"

"That is one hell of a promotion. What, not happy with him just getting you coffee?" she joked

"You sound almost jealous" said Jack as he leaned across his desk to grab the file and begin reading

"Well, you did steal my husband"

"You never wanted him in the first place" he pointed out, she rolled her shoulders and looked around while Jack read through the file she'd put together. It seemed pretty straight forward but he would talk it over when Ianto came back and it was William's turn to keep an eye on Gwen

"So, are you going to adopt them? I know Ianto will do anything the children want, I know him, but you... what would you do?"

"Do you even have to ask? It's what I came for. The one thing I..." Jack trailed off and looked up at her "I don't understand how you can walk away from them"

"I just know that they're not who I'm supposed to be with; I wasn't supposed to be Taren or Addiena's mother and I wasn't supposed to be Ianto's wife. I woke up one day and I could feel it... I could feel that it was wrong and it outweighed all the feelings I had for them" Lisa explained, talking to herself more than him, she lifted her head meeting his eyes "You should adopt them, you should be with Ianto. Be a family... you should talk to Ianto and you should sign those papers and be a family that goes on vacations and has picnics and celebrates birthdays... I don't know why but _you_ should have it"

"Like this is where I was meant to be?" he stated quietly as he leaned back in his chair "I do, I feel like I've gotten everything I could ever want. But I know what comes next and I...I'm not..."

"Don't be afraid, Jack" she had no idea why she was trying to give him comfort

"I can't afford to be! I'm giving too much away already, in the other reality with the other Ianto I held myself back because it wasn't going to last. I knew that then and I know it now... Ianto will get older and I won't..."

"And that's okay" she told him. His gaze snapped up to hers and for a second he thought it would be but then reality came crashing back down

"No. It's not. Thank you for bringing the paperwork, I'll give them to Ianto when he gets here. I think you should leave now"

"Okay" she stood up, a smile sliding across her face "If you go ahead and sign me off the birth certificates my lawyer will notify me. Goodbye Jack, congratulations on getting engaged"

"Thank you, goodbye Lisa" Jack told her finally. He knew that this would be the last time he would see Lisa.

Jack dropped the papers down on the desk and rubbed his hands over his face; he was more than tempted to just sign the papers forging Ianto's signature so it would be done but he knew that there would be all manner of hell to pay if he did that "I need a holiday" he told himself. When Ianto came back they'd talk about the papers and whatever they decided, after that Jack was taking them all on holiday!

TBC...


	23. Chapter 21

**Author's/Note:** XxTypoMasterxX, hotflower901, katwinchester, WickedWitchoftheSE, deemama66, reddevilpoes and all those who lurk... thank you for leaving feedback. Yes I know I'm not doing my usual feedback reply thing but this part is gonna be a heartbreaker. I cried just getting this out and I really, really hope you can forgive me. **This is a serious hanky warning...** there is Character Death here. **You Are Warned! **

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Part Twenty One**

"_I-I'm cold, d-d-daddy" she whimpered as she clung against him. There was mud in her beautiful dark brown hair and she was shivering. Or he was. Jack wasn't sure which one of them was shivering, probably both of them. He was amazed he could hear her over the roar of the water, he was glad that Addie was still alert enough to talk _

"_I know baby, but it won't be for much longer, it's getting lighter and they'll find us soon" he stammered, his teeth chattering loudly. Her big eyes seemed so alert and shiny as she looked up at him _

"_Do you think Taren is okay?" she whispered. Oh god, thought Jack, how could he answer that? How could he tell her that it wasn't good? That Taren was probably... he wouldn't think of it. He couldn't think of it! Not now, he had to keep Addiena warm enough while they waited for someone to rescue them. Jack smiled down at her _

"_We'll be rescued soon. They'll find us and Taren and taddy will be waiting for us" he told her, she just nodded and tucked her head under his chin. Despite her shivering he knew she was crying..._

"That was the best vacation ever!" crowed Taren from the back seat. Ianto glanced in the rear view mirror to see his son smiling warmly before turning back to concentrate on driving through the deluge. It was raining pretty heavily and they'd been late leaving the countryside because the kids had enjoyed splashing in the puddles. Ianto looked briefly at Jack; sometimes it was like having a third child! Jack had been right along side his children as they splashed in the puddles with their shiny, new wellington boots. Still, he was glad that Jack loved his kids as much as he loved Ianto... it made him smile at how happy Jack had been to officially become their father.

"Damn" he swore when he saw the road flooded

"Taddy said a bad word!" giggled Addiena from her booster seat, Taren was laughing but held his finger to his lips to shush her

"It's okay. We'll just go around... there's another road" Jack stated as he looked over the map; after years of being tossed around with Jack at the wheel Ianto had designated Jack navigator while he drove. With a sigh he turned in his seat and started backing the people carrier up

"We should have left earlier. The roads are flooded and I don't want to be stuck out here when it gets dark" grumbled Ianto

"Hey, don't worry about it. We'll get home okay" Jack told him as he put his hand on Ianto's thigh, Ianto grumbled even more at his conditioned almost Pavlovian respone. Jack was still looking at him expectantly, he rolled his eyes and closed the distance kissing him softly

"Kissin!" giggled Addiena; she loved how happy her daddy and taddy were together. Taren told her that before daddy there had been a shouty woman who didn't make taddy happy, she didn't know who this woman was or why she wasn't around anymore but she was glad for it. She couldn't imagine anyone else with her taddy than daddy!

Ianto went back to backing the car up when a loud bang startled them all and they felt the car dipp on the back left side

"Shit" hissed Ianto knowing that the tyre must have blown; he wasn't looking forward to getting out to change it

"Taddy" gasped Addie, the loud noise had frightened her

"It's okay, Add, it was just the tyre" said Taren, he leaned down to pick up her stuffed bunny she'd dropped

"Yeah, baby, listen to your big brother. Taddy and I are going to fix the tyre and then we'll be on our way home" said Jack

"I'm scared"

"There's nothing to be scared of" Ianto added trying to calm her down

"What part of the holiday did you like?" Taren asked her; both the grown men could tell that he was just as scared as Addiena was but he was talking to keep her from being afraid

"T-The horsies" she told him as she cuddled Bunny close "I liked it when we got to ride the horsies"

"I liked it too. Remember when daddy fell off the horsie?" Taren asked her, she nodded her face splitting into a wide grin.

Satisfied that their youngest child was distracted enough to be left, both Jack and Ianto tugged their jackets on and got out of the car. Water was running heavily past their feet down towards the swamped road and as soon as they stepped in it their ankles were soaked. Ianto hurried round the car and met his partner who was carefully crouching down to investigate the state of the tyre

"How bad is it? Can we fix it or should I get the spare?"

"I think we'll have to get the spare" Jack answered him. He stood up rather too quickly and lost his footing, the water easily sweeping him off his feet to land on his back with a hefty oomph

"Jack!" cried Ianto turning back to help Jack up.

"I'm okay, I'm okay... just- god I'm wet!" he answered rather sulkily shaking the excess water off his hands even though it was pointless. Ianto couldn't help but laugh at his boss and lover's appearance "Yeah, yeah, yeah real funny" sneered Jack, he turned to wander off but Ianto grabbed his hand and pulled him close

"Love you. Even if you do look like a drowned rat" he told him, pressing his mouth to Jack's damp one. Jack indulged in the comfort before pulling way

"Love you too, now, we gotta get this tyre sorted. The rain's getting heavier and I don't like how fast all that water is coming" Jack pointed down to the water that was streaming rather rapidly past their feet. Ianto nodded numbly feeling cold travel down his spine as he followed Jack to the boot of the car to get the spare out.

It took them twenty minutes to switch the tyres over and by the time they were finished the water was now up to their knees. Ianto glanced at Jack worried, wondering if it would be best to ditch the car and walk back to the cottage? It was only a mile an and a half away. The two of them climbed back into the car, it was a struggle just opening and closing the doors with all the water rushing past them.

"I don't like this. I think we should head back to the cottage" suggested Jack. Hm, thought Ianto, we'd been thinking along the same lines. Ianto nodded mutely as he started the car

"Taddy, my seat's wet!" moaned Addiena almost fearfully. Ianto ignored her for a moment as he tried to turn the engine over. It sputtered before the car jerked forward and the engine died, he glanced up and Jack who nodded

"We're going back to the cottage kids, put your coats on and zip them up ready to go" Jack told them, Taren reached for his waterproof coat and pulled it on before handing Addie her coat.

Ianto tried opening his door but couldn't under the weight of the water, he rolled his window down debating whether to climb out that way

"Jack, the doors are stuck. We'll have to go out by the windows" he explained glancing down briefly at the rising water before turning back to his lover, speaking quietly "I don't like this, the water's risen too quickly for it to be anything other than a flash flood. I think it's probably best we stay with the car and call for help"

"Do it. Call for help" said Jack as he clambered into the backseat to release the kids from their seats

"Dad, what's happening?" Taren asked. Not long after Jack officially moved in, did he stop calling Jack by his name and start calling him dad... when Addie learned to talk she just copied him.

"The water is rising quickly, far too quickly for us to go back to the cottage on foot so we're going to stay here. Taddy's calling the emergency services to come and get us" he explained. Taren looked a little frightened but Jack saw him swallow it down to crawl across the seat and wrap his arm around Addie and bunny. He ruffled Taren's hair and smiled warmly at them "If you notice the water getting any higher I want you to tell us, okay?"

"Okay" nodded Addie and Jack clambered back into the front seat. The water was rising, crawling up their shins and soaking into the seats

"Jack, I can't get a fucking signal" whispered Ianto almost frantically. Jack leaned close to whisper back

"Calm down, you don't want to frighten the kids. I'll try my phone and if that doesn't work I'll try climbing up on the roof, see if that works"

"Yeah, yeah okay" nodded Ianto, he was beginning to feel panicky as the water rose. He'd seen and heard of all the people who'd lost someone in flash floods on the news, his mind wasn't helping things by constantly reminding him that neither Taren nor Addiena could swim.

Five minutes of trying to get a signal, Jack rolled down his window and climbed out up onto the roof to see if that would help

"Tad, what's daddy doing?" asked Taren

"He's trying to get a signal to call the emergency services" explained Ianto as he watched the water creeping up over the hood of his car

"Taddy!" cried Addie "Bunny's getting wet and there's water in my wellieboots!"

Ianto glanced over his shoulder and saw that his children were pretty much sitting on soggy seats and Addie was holding Bunny over her head, his ears were limp and waterlogged

"Put your hoods up" he told them, they did as they were told and he lifted Addie to stand on the front passenger seat before he helped Taren across. They stood huddling together while he maneouvered himself onto the edge of the car door and called to Jack "Jack! The water's too high for us to stay in the car. I want the kids up there with you"

"I still haven't got a signal" he shouted over the downpour, with a sigh Jack put the phone in his jeans pocket and slid across towards Ianto's side of the car "You lift them out and I'll pull them up"

Ianto nodded once before moving back into the car, so much for being a good holiday! It had all been going fine until it had started raining and they were late leaving

"Right, since the water's getting higher, you're going to sit on the roof with daddy" he told them

"Are you gonna sit up there with us?" Taren asked, he was hugging Addie treating her like she was treating her Bunny

"Yes, I am. Addie... you're out first" he said as he climbed back to sit on the car door. She stepped across to the driver's seat and he lifted her up

"Wait!" she cried, she unzipped her coat and pushed Bunny inside before zipping it back up. Ianto couldn't help but smile as he lifted her out to Jack's waiting hands, once she was settled on the roof he lifted Taren out. Jack hauled his son up onto the roof before watching Ianto climb up and sit down with ease.

They all sat down on the roof of the car huddling together to keep warm. Addie was sitting in Jack's lap while Tarry was perched against Ianto, who was sat Indian style.

"I really liked the horsies" said Addie suddenly "And that big long walk to feed the sheep"

"We didn't go all that way to feed the sheep" Taren pointed out

"Did too!" she protested, almost rising up if it weren't for Jack's hand pressing against her middle setting her back down

"I liked the pub we went to" Ianto told them thinking about his favourite parts of the weekend holiday "You got to play in the play area and I got to spend time with you" Ianto's eyes met Jack's warmly, Jack reached across and linked fingers with him

"I liked the horsies too. Are there any horsies in London? Tad? Can I go horse riding in London?"

"And me, taddy! I want to go horsie riding too!" grinned Addie

"We'll look when we get back" Jack grinned, Ianto rolled his eyes knowing that it wasn't just Taren and Addiena who wanted to go horsie riding

"I liked our room" Jack told Ianto quietly "I know we're not married yet but it was like a honeymoon"

"What's a honeymoon?" asked Addie. Ianto was blushing despite how cold it was and warned Jack with his eyes not to tell her properly

"Well when two people get married they have to get into the same bed and go to sleep" Jack told her "That way it's consumated"

"But you go to sleep in the same bed all the time! Does that mean you con-con-consu-mate it every night?" Taren pointed out, Ianto nearly burst out laughing at the confused and guilty look on Jack's face.

"It's only after the wedding that it's consumated if you sleep in the same bed" Jack added then grinned feeling suddenly pleased that he'd got himself out of his loophole

"Why's it have to be connemated?" Addie asked, she turned looking up at Jack

"So taddy and I will be husbands" he replied. She looked back down deep in thought; at least this is keeping her distracted thought Ianto. The water was rising up even higher now and he had a feeling that a river must have burst its banks

"If you're not husbands now, then what are you?" she asked suddenly breaking out of her thoughts

"We're boyfriend's" Ianto answered this time "Daddy is my boyfriend"

"Shame you don't call me that all the time" Jack quipped. Ianto scowled knowing exactly what Jack had meant by that and wondered how upset the kids would be if he pushed him off the car roof into the water.

"Can I have a boyfriend?" asked Addiena "Can Taren?"

"Not until you're older" Jack and Ianto said at the same time

"I don't want a boyfriend. I'm a boy, I'm supposed to like girls!" protested Taren moodily. Addie shook her head fiercely

"No, you're not! That's silly! You're silly!" she snapped "Boys aren't s'posed to like girls!"

"Addie, honey, Taren's right. Normally boys and girls go together" Ianto pointed out as they switched over. He lifted Addie across while Taren went and sat down wrapped up with Jack's left arm

"But that's silly! You're not a girl!" he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes; why was he always the girl?

"I know that, sweetie, but it's okay for boys and girls to like each other just like it's okay for girls and girls and boys and boys like me and Daddy"

"So I could have a boyfriend or a girlfriend?" she asked

"Yes, if you wanted to. But not until you're older" Jack told her with a smile as she slowly began to understand it "You can love anyone you want to and we'll always love you, no matter what"

"I love my taddy and my daddy and Taren" she announced finally. Ianto cuddled her closer in his arms after she said that

"We love you too, baby"

Half an hour later they were still sitting on the roof of the car. Jack had both of the kids cradled against him while Ianto stood up to try and get a signal

"I got it!" he crowed triumphantly and he called 999 to let them know what was happening and where they were. Ianto hung up, shoved the phone in his pocket and was about to sit down when he saw rushing water hurtling towards the car, he turned round to tell his family to grab hold of something but the torrent knocked him off his feet. He caught the edge of the car as the water hit him, when it passed he was aware of two things; that the water now reached the top of the people carrier and Jack, Taren and Addiena were no longer with him on top of the roof. In fact they were nowhere in sight.

"JACK! TAREN! ADDIENA!" he screamed out into the dark but nothing came back. Ianto couldn't see them or hear them; it was taking all of his will power and common sense not to just jump into the water after them trying to find them!

Despite feeling the start of a severe panic attack he knew that he had to stay on the car and wait for the services and he knew that Jack had hold of the children when the water hit. Ianto knew Jack would protect them!

*

It had been six hours since he'd been airlifted to safety, nine since Jack, Taren and Addie had been swept off the car and still no word. As soon as the doctors cleared him they'd left him in a waiting room and he'd called everyone he knew. Rhiannon had driven up from Cardiff and Tosh had hired several helicopters from London to bring up the team and to help with the search.

Ianto felt useless as he sat there with Rhi and Toshiko holding his hands trying to offer him comfort, he shouldn't be sitting in here. He should be out there helping to find them! They were his family for God sake!

Toshiko's phone buzzed suddenly, dancing around the coffee table. She snatched it as she jumped up and pressed it against her ear

"Will?" she spoke tentatively but with determination, wanting to know what had changed, her shoulders sagged and Ianto felt his heart speedning up. A moment later she turned round tears streaming down her face but a grin on it nonetheless "They found them! Jack was hanging onto the side of a gully, they're bringing them in now"

He almost collapsed in on himself, he would have done if his sister hadn't pulled him close. It was all so surreal and suddenly he felt himself smiling too; he knew Jack would keep the kids safe.

The minutes passed in a blur as two trolleys were wheeled into the hospital. Ianto was standing in the doorway to the waiting room for them to come in and he nearly had a heart attack when the doors clanged open. Ianto sprinted across the room to see Jack lying on the trolley wrapped in a shiny blanket

"A-A-ddie" his teeth were chattering and he was awfully pale. Ianto nodded and turned his attention to his daughter's trolley, she was sitting up on it and was wrapped in a shiny blanket just like Jack had been. Her little fingers were curled tight around Bunny even though it was creating a puddle on on the bed.

Her eyes widened when she saw him and she immediately held her arms out reaching for him despite being strapped to the trolley, Bunny was forgotten when she saw her tad

"Taddy!" she shouted as she started crying, she struggled against the straps. Ianto walked with the trolley and held her hand

"Stay still baby, the doctors have to make sure you're okay" he told her. Owen and Karroe were talking rapidly with the paramedics and when they went through the double doors into the resus bay they began explaining things to the doctors.

Addie was still crying when the paramedics unfastened the straps, as soon as she was free she dived into her tad's arms

"I sorry" she wailed "I sorry taddy"

"We need to get her back on the bed to check her over, Ianto" Owen told him. Ianto nodded and climbed onto the trolley holding Addie in his lap; she didn't care what the doctors did to her as long as she was with her tad.

"Hush, now, baby. Stop crying... it's okay" he rocked her in his arms as the doctors began checking her heart and blood pressure. All she needed in the end was to be warmed up and hydrated; Owen put a saline drip since they couldn't quite remember when she'd ate or drank.

Ianto cradled her as she cried, he had no idea why she was still crying. The doctors had left and Rhiannon came in to tell him that Tosh was with Jack, they were working on him in another room.

"Is daddy gonna be okay?" asked Addie through her sobs

"He'll be fine, baby. Daddy's special so he'll be okay" he replied, Rhiannon wondered briefly what he was talking about as she watched her little brother wipe Addie's tears away

"Is Taren special like daddy?" her question threw both brother and sister. Ianto looked up as it suddenly hit him. Jack and Addie had been brought in but Taren hadn't

"Addiena? Where's Taren" he demanded. She looked away guiltily and more tears rained down her face "Addie! I asked you a question! Where's Taren?!"

"I sorry, taddy" she sobbed again, her face crumpling with grief

"W-Where..." whispered Ianto, Rhiannon put her hand under Addie's chin and lifted it up so their eyes met

"Addiena, tell me what happened" she begged

"I couldn't hold on" began the little girl "Daddy grabbed the muddy wall and I let go, I didn't want to! My fingers hurt from holding on! I fell into the water... daddy tried to get me but the water... Taren jumped into the water and got me back to daddy. Daddy put me between him and the wall, when we looked Taren was gone"

"Oh God" gasped Ianto feeling agonising sadness rip through him; he felt such grief and such pride at the same time. Taren had sacrificed his life for Addiena's, and now he was in the water! Taren couldn't swim! It had been nine hours! If Taren had gone into the water there was no way that he... Ianto slid off the trolley and gestured for Rhiannon to take his place "I have to find Karroe. We have to go out and find Taren!"

He hurried away out of the room looking desperately for his fellow team mate, he found the alien crouched against a off-cream coloured wall nursing a plastic cup of coffee

"Ianto" he mumbled when he saw the Welshman coming towards him

"Taren's still out there! My son's still out in the water! We have to get the helicopters and we have to find him!" he stated rather loudly. Karroe set the cup of luke warm coffee down on the floor before rising to his feet

"Ianto" repeated Karroe. God dammit, he thought to himself, why do I have to be the one? Why is it me whose telling him?

"No" Ianto shook his head, tears filled his eyes as he took a step back. Karroe tried to grip his arms to step him from panicking "NO!"

"Owen!" Karroe called for his boyfriend. Owen came running out of resus 2 to find Ianto struggling in Karroe's grip

"No! No! NO! Not my son! Not my maban!" Ianto roared as tears blinded him "Please! Owen! Karroe! There must be something you can do!"

"Ianto" Owen cupped Ianto's face as the three of them slowly sank down to the floor "There was nothing we could do. Taren had been in the water for far too long"

"Please! Please! Not him! There has to be something... Owen! He's my son!" he wailed, begged and pleaded

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Ianto... there's nothing" Karroe and Owen cradled him as he broke down.

TBC...


	24. Chapter 22

**SeverusPotterSnape: **Sorry for the delay. Real life got in the way but I am writing a bit more now and I'll get more chapters out soon. In the mean time this is a very, very long chapter!

**deemama66:** I hope I did justice to this chapter. I've never lost anyone before so I don't exactly know what it's like, the only thing that could come close to that was the whole Ianto thing. I did feel a fair bit of grief when RTD killed him which is weird coz I know he's a fictional character. I will finish them, whether they're open ended or not remains to be seen but I will finish all of them. Couldn't really help real life, didn't want to end up homeless!

**Smori: **Yes, this chapter is about his funeral and how Ianto moves through it. Again, I've never lost anyone so I don't know how much justice I could give to the 'grief' Ianto feels for the loss of his son. **  
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**hotflower901: **I'm sorry this upset you so. It wasn't just Jack that suffered, Taren changed everything... you might not like this chapter if the last one upset you so much. **  
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**gillian gutfright: **Hehehe, I like a lurker! **  
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**SpecialFaiths: **Sorry, don't cry. *Hug***  
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**reddevilpoes: **I don't know. I just wrote what was in my head and it just progressed! **  
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**leonale: **Sorry **  
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**Cherry-Anne Sponge: **Sorry I made you cry. **  
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**katwinchester: **Can I ask, who did you think it would be? I'm curious to know who and what would happen. **  
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**WickedWitchoftheSE: **Still not sure about why I wrote Taren dying. Mortality, I think... and no, Taren isn't special in that way like daddy is but he is special. **  
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**Efern: **Thank you. I don't know why I wrote it like that, I could just picture it in my head and had to write it. **  
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**DoctorWhoXTorchwood: **I'm sorry.**  
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**DANFLAN: **This chapter is about Taren's funeral and it's not just him we're loosing. **  
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**XxTypoMasterxX: **Yeah it is going to get harder and not just for them. For Addie, for Owen and for Karroe. **  
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**Author's/Note:** Yeah, not sure what I could write here that I haven't said in comments. This is very much read at your own peril, this is toward's Taren's funeral. It's going to be another dark chapter I'm afraid; as always read and review and I hope the fact that it's a long part makes up for lack of update for two months. Enjoy!

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Part Twenty Two**

The light was low when he woke up, it took him a moment to realise where he was. He lay in a hospital bed and the room felt far too stuffy and hot, a quick glance down at his hands showed that someone had taken the time to wash his hands clean but mud and rock still lingered under his nails.

Slowly he sat up pushing the think blanket away and looked round, he was hooked up to an IV and his heart was being monitored. Jack climbed out of the bed, not caring about how thinly he was dressed, and pushed the metal stand along as he left the room.

Karroe was sitting on the floor outside his room, his knees brought up tight against his chest with his arms wrapped around him. It made him look even smaller and younger than his three hundred something years. Jack stared at the young Timelord for a moment; Karroe didn't need to look up to know he was being watched

"Did you know?"

"Jack..."

"You're a Timelord! Did. You. Know?" snarled Jack angrily. Karroe let go of his knees and looked up at his boss and friend

"Yes" he could have denied it, not that that would have done much good in the end. He had known and he'd said nothing so he deserved what Jack did next.

Jack grabbed the first thing that was at hand which was the metal stand for his drip, he picked it up and swung it upwards crashing it against Karroe's chin. Karroe fell back against the floor and cowered, covering his head as Jack proceeded to beat him seven ways from Sunday with the metal stand. Owen and several security personal came running, a burly guard grabbed the metal stand while two others held Jack's arms and Owen sank to the floor wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's shaking shoulders.

Struggling, Jack tried to pull away from the guards but it was no good. They held him firm and fast and pulled him back away from Karroe

"You bastard! You knew! You knew my son was going to drown! Why didn't you warn us? Why?" he roared. Owen looked down at Karroe in disbelief but his boyfriend wasn't looking at him, he was staring directly at their boss

"Because it was meant to be this way" he said simply "The Doctor..."

As soon as he'd mentioned the Doctor Jack roared and started struggling again, managing to throw off one of the guards.

"Get him out of here. Sedate him if you have to!" Owen ordered them. Jack was dragged back to his room leaving Owen and Karroe alone.

Owen helped Karroe up and into a bay for him to be treated. Karroe's eye was swelling up and there was blood pouring from his nose and split lip, Owen carefully cleaned the wounds and bandaged his bruised knuckles

"Thanks, Owen" he said as he put his hand over Owen's. Owen tugged his hand away and stepped back

"Don't thank me. A kid's dead... Jack and Ianto's kid... how could you, Karr? How could you?"

"I... please don't be angry with me, Owen, I wanted to tell them! To warn them! But the Doctor... the Doctor told me that this had to happen, that this was fixed because of Jack"

"So Taren is dead because someone told you it had to be this way?" hissed Owen "God! I can't believe you could be so stupid! I can't be around you right now, let alone look at you!"

"Owen, please!" begged Karroe "I could see this happening. That's why I had no choice... everything... anything I could have done would have resulted in the same thing. No matter what I could have done or said Taren was always going to die"

"And you're going to tell that to his parents? To his little sister and his aunt and uncle, his cousins? You're going to tell them this? I had to fucking sedate Ianto from going to see Taren at the morgue and Jack looks ready to kill you with his bare hands. Frankly I don't know why I shouldn't let him, you deserve it!"

"Don't say that" begged Karroe

"I know you're a Time Lord and will live longer than I will but I thought you were special... special not because of what you are but who you were. I can't believe I let myself fall in love with someone like you" Owen turned and left the cubicle leaving Karroe alone.

Rhiannon was sleeping when he came round. Addiena was in his arms sniffling against him, still wrapped in that thick hospital blanket, she was asleep too. For a moment all he felt was sleepy contentment before it dawned on him that something wasn't quite right. Ianto backtracked through the obvious until it came to him, he closed his eyes and swallowed a harsh sob. He sat up carefully maneouvering Addie around so he could lower the safety bars on the bed, Ianto climbed from the bed keeping his daughter safely tucked in one arm and he went to find Jack.

He padded barefoot through the corridors of the hospital, past other people who'd been caught in the flash flood. Ianto didn't know what time it was nor did he care; in the past that might have bothered him but not now. Time had lost all meaning to him, what was the point? Ianto walked, checking charts and boards as he went hoping to see Jack's name. After twenty minutes of wandering, and worrying that Jack had somehow gone as well, he found the cubicle he needed.

Jack was laying on the bed staring up at the ceiling, there was a fat wad of gauze over his right inner elbow taped down tightly and his wrists were bound with thick, off orange cuffs

"Jack?" whispered Ianto so quietly, he barely heard himself. Jack's eyes widened and he turned to face him, those big blue eyes shining with guilt and shame. Ianto watched Jack curl in on himself, struggling to get away

"No. Please, not you... I can't... I'm sorry! I'm s-" Ianto marched across the room and pressed the fingertips of his free hand against Jack's mouth

"Shh, don't" he soothed Jack who was openly crying now "I don't blame you, Jack, I don't blame you. It wasn't your fault"

Ianto set Addiena down in the chair, she whimpered but stayed asleep, turning back to his lover he slowly began to undo the cuffs tying Jack to the bed

"You shouldn't, I could hurt you" sobbed Jack as he tried to stop Ianto from undoing them. Ianto shook his head

"You could never hurt me" he replied easily. Jack fell silent and he unfastened the cuffs and pushed them aside. Ianto picked up his daughter and carried her over to the hospital bed, Jack slid across making room for Ianto and Addie. The two of them lay on their sides facing each other, with the little girl in between them "Tell me how it happened, Jack. I need to know how he... how he died"

"He saved her life" stated Jack as he tenderly stroked Addie's soft hair "We must have been in the water for an hour, two hours, I was getting tired and I couldn't keep myself up. I knew that I had to find something to grab onto... the only thing was the side of the river. It took a few tries but I managed to get a grip on the side of the river bed and climb up some, it was muddy and I had to push my hands into the dirt just to hold on. I had one hand in when Addie lost her grip, I tried to reach for her but I was stuck... it would have been... she would have... but Taren! Oh god... Taren let go, he-he let go of me and jumped into the water. It all happened so quickly! Taren grabbed hold of her, lifted her up and threw her. I managed to grab hold of her arm and push her between me and the mud. When I looked back for Taren... Ianto, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry..." he broke down sobbing as Ianto wrapped his arms around both of them. The last of his family.

Taren Jones's funeral was held on a day when it was sunny, Ianto woke up that morning after a long night of trying badly to avoid sleep. The sun was streaming through the windows and his mind told him that today he would bury his son.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it made him feel furious; it had been the rain... too much rain that had killed him and now it was dry as a bone. Why couldn't it have been dry on _that_ day? Ianto got up, showered and got changed into his suit. It felt mechanical and it made him feel sick; there isn't a part of me that doesn't hurt... if feels like my stomach's full of rats, he thought as he went through the motions.

Jack hadn't bothered with the pretence of sleep, he'd spent the night on the couch downstairs. Ianto wished that his boyfriend wasn't putting this distance between them even though he knew why Jack was doing it. The reasons made Ianto feel appreciated even if he was missing that closeness and comfort; Jack was giving him space to grieve the loss of his son.

"Tad" Ianto turned to see Addie standing there wearing the little black dress that had been laid out for her, the buttons at the back weren't buttoned up, she was barefoot and her hair was tangled and unkempt giving her a wild, feral look.

"Addiena" he reached out to pick her up but she turned round pointing at her buttons. He fastened them up and she turned back around, her eyes didn't look like those of a little girl's anymore. God, Ianto cried out mentally, she's only three years old! She shouldn't know this kind of pain! Once her buttons were fastened she marched away to find some socks and he was left alone once more.

Ianto turned hurrying over to the sink in the kitchen as he felt the tears come, a few moments later he could sense Jack's eyes boring into his back "I need you, Jack..."

"I'm here" replied Jack, at his side in seconds with his hand outstretched

"I know you're giving me space to mourn but I can't do this without you... please don't pull away from me. I can't loose you too"

"You won't... Ianto, I'm sorry. I wasn't pulling away for you to mourn, I was pulling away because you... you should..."

"What?"

"It was my fault" whispered Jack as tears filled up in his eyes "You should blame me for Taren's death because it was my fault"

"No, no, no... please don't say that. It isn't true... it wasn't your fault! I don't blame you, I won't!"

"You shoul-"

"Why should I? What good what that do? You thinking I hated you, you feeling guilty about something that was out of your hands? Is that what you want?" he shouted angrily but that anger deflated within seconds as Jack closed his eyes, crying harder

"It's what I deserve" Jack replied with his head bowed. Ianto took a step closer, invading his space as he lifted his lover's face so their eyes met

"I forgive you, Jack" Ianto told him with a sad smile on his face "I forgive you"

Jack sank against him, burying his head against Ianto's shoulder and sobbed loud and wildly. Ianto rubbed his back until the sobbing subsided and he needed to wipe his jacket clean.

The car turned up a little before half nine, they'd all been ready to go since seven and Addie was moody and tired; none of them had really slept all that well. Rhiannon and Johnny pulled up behind the hearse and made their way to the door. For a moment Ianto thought about ignoring their knocking, pretending that they weren't here for the funeral and that Taren wasn't dead just at a friend's house sleeping over.

Jack opened the door and let them in, both his sister and brother in law were dressed in black and it looked like Rhi had been crying just as hard as he had.

"Are you ready?" she asked puffy eyed. Ianto reached to pick Addie up and she settled sleepily in his arms, he faltered at the front door. Rhiannon had left it open and he hadn't been expecting seeing the hearse and the coffin so soon. Yes, he'd picked it out but then it was just a box... now his little boy was in it! Jack held him up and ushered him towards the car. Blood was rushing through his ears so loudly he couldn't hear anything anyone was saying to him.

Ianto sat there in the back seat and he could swear he could smell dirty water coming from the coffin, he glanced at Jack but his partner was staring ahead, his red eyes focused on driver like he was afraid to look back.

Sitting there, in the back of the hearse with the remnants of his family, Ianto tried to imagine what it would be like in the church and what he'd expect. It would be open coffin and the first... _last_... time he'd see Taren since the flood, he hadn't even been the one to ID him. Jack had stepped in and done that to save Ianto from the pain; he was grateful for that because he wasn't sure he would have handled seeing his little boy all bloated and waterlogged.

He started, almost jumping out of his skin when something brushed his hand; for one terrifying moment he thought it was Taren's hand, that his son had somehow managed to climb out of the coffin. Ianto looked down slowly almost expecting to see a pale hand but it was just Jack's normal tanned fingers touching him, trying to be comforting. He looked up at Jack and saw the worry in his face

"Yan?" Jack whispered his name quietly, inquiring if he was okay... well as okay as one could be on the day of their child's funeral. Ianto just stared at him not sure what to say or do; what the hell was the etiquette for situations like this? When they heard that the soldiers were taking children he and Rhiannon had taken the kids and hid at the old cottage in the beacons, he'd worked so hard to keep his son alive. That's what parents did, wasn't it? Keep your children alive.

"I..." I've failed him, I let him die. Taren is dead because of me, thought Ianto.

"We're here" Jack announced before looking away. Ianto looked around in surprise, he hadn't even realised that the hearse had been moving! Oh god, his mind screamed, I'm not ready! I can't do this!

He wanted to jump out of the car with Addiena in his arms and run as fast as he could away, he could feel breathe wheezing out of him and Jack's face hovered in front of him.

"Okay" he mumbled and he got out. Addie didn't want to let go of him and that was understandable, he didn't want to put her down in case she was washed away too.

The church was old and smelled musty, and the pallbearers had already brought the coffin in and set it up near the altar. That damn box was open and Ianto felt his breath cease as he moved closer and closer to it "No" he whispered when he saw Taren laying there. All empty and normal looking

"Ianto? Here, sit down" ordered Jack gently and then hands were moving him setting him down on a hard wood pew. Mentally a part of him was begging for this to be over and another part wanted it to go on, he didn't want to say goodbye to Taren, didn't want his son to be gone.

The minister he'd chosen began to speak and Ianto blocked it all out. That night that his family was washed away played through his head over and over; he kept thinking about all the things that he could have done. All the things that he should have done differently! I wish... his mind began but then he shook that thought away; no he wouldn't go there, that was wrong! He didn't wish. Wouldn't wish.

Taren's service went so quickly Ianto was rather stunned when he realised everyone was looking at him, he looked round and Jack reached for Addie

"No" he gasped tightening his grip on her. Don't take her too!

"Ianto, you have to go up and say goodbye" Jack explained

"I don't want to" snapped Ianto still cradling his daughter close "You can't make me"

"If you don't then they'll just close the coffin and the pallbearers will take it outside"

"No, we're Torchwood. We can stop them, I won't let them take him away!" sobbed Ianto. Rhiannon appeared on his right and lifted Addiena up and away. Jack grabbed Ianto's forearms to shake some sense into him

"No, we won't stop them. We can't... it has to be this way, Taren's dead"

"No, _please_! No" Ianto cried. Jack turned wrapping his arm around Ianto and helped him stand, moving him towards the coffin

"You have to say goodbye" repeated Jack. Ianto looked down at Taren lying stiff and still and his heart broke even more

"Taren" he sniffled "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault..." he brushed his son's hair back off his forehead. Taren was cold and then everything changed, Taren was gone and suddenly it felt infinitely easier to say goodbye to this shell.

Rhiannon was behind him, holding Addie who was crying. She didn't have a big brother anymore, all she had was her dad and her tad... I've been so selfish thought Ianto, she's hurting too!

"Baby" he held his arms out for her and she jumped quickly across. Far too young to understand what it meant for her brother to not be there anymore "Say goodbye"

"Don't wanna" she sniffled

"I know. Neither to do I but Taren's in heaven and we have to say goodbye for now" he told her. Jack put his hand on Ianto's shoulder squeezing lightly. Ianto held his daughter out and she leaned down to kiss Taren's head

"Bye for now. You were a really cool big brother" she said before Ianto cradled her back against his shoulder and she tucked her head against his neck to cry quietly.

Ianto turned around to sit back down but paused when he saw someone sittng at the very back of church. She didn't have to be here and after signing all custardy over Ianto was surprised to see her there, he nodded to her and she nodded back. Ianto sat down, watching as his sister stood mumbling before she came and joined him. Jack stood there for five minutes; he couldn't hear what his boss was saying but he had a good idea. Taren wasn't blood related to Jack but he'd still been a son and that pain wasn't easy no matter how many children and grandchildren Jack had lost.

When Jack came to sit down, his eyes were red and puffy, a sure sign that he'd been crying openly. Ianto linked fingers with his partner and nodded, the eulogy was read and then the pallbearers came to close the coffin and carry it out. The procession followed as the small box was carried out into the sunshine making Ianto, again, wish for rain.

He almost choked at the cruel connection his mind made; the rain had been the reason Taren was gone! How on earth could I wish for it? Thought Ianto. The welshman stuck around to drop the handful of dirt into the ground before he moved back to stand beside Jack, Ianto noticed that his lover was looking at something across the cemetery.

Karroe and the Doctor were stood near the railings under a tree watching from a distance, the Doctor put his hand on Karroe's shoulder before he turned and made his way towards the gates. Karroe stood there for a moment, Ianto could see his sadness even from this distance, before he too turned heading for the exit. Jack had watched this silently before he spared at glance at Owen; the Londoner had seen his boyfriend and seemed unsure of what to do.

"Go" Ianto said suddenly under his breathe "There's been enough loss, already"

Owen nodded once then quickly and quietly hurried after the two Timelords. The Doctor was already in his ship but Karroe was just walking towards it

"So that's it?" called Owen. Karroe stopped in his tracks, didn't turn around "You're just going to go"

"It isn't wise to stay here. I'm not needed"

"Bollocks to that, you coward! I need you! Were you even going to tell me? Or were you just gonna go?"

"It would have been better than this" hissed Karroe as he turned round sharply

"So I'm your evil conscious? Maybe you need me to tell you when you're being stupid!"

"For fuck sake, Owen, someone's dead. A kid is dead and it's my fault!"

"No it's not, that's not enough to run away"

"Isn't it? How am I going to look at Ianto knowing that I could have told him? That I knew his son was going to die and I did nothing?"

"I don't know but do you really think going with the bastard who told you not to tell him is a good idea?"

"I dunno, I don't know anything anymore. All the years I've been around and I have no idea" Karroe said as he began to cry "Tell me, what should I do? I can't stay here, I can't leave you... either way this is all wrong"

"Owen could always come with us" both of them turned to see the Doctor standing in the doorway of the Tardis, leaning casually against the jam "Sometimes we do need people to tell us we're being stupid, even me. It's something you should definitely learn if you're going to accept being a Timelord"

"Can I..." began Karroe as he faced his boyfriend "Owen, come with me. I need you..."

Owen took the outstretched hand and let Karroe lead him into the TARDIS. The Doctor shut the door and then a few minutes later the whirring, grating noise of the engines echoed off into nothing.

Ianto stayed, stood still over the grave. Even when the grounds people began filling it in. Addiena swung on his hand but he kept staring at the hole

"Ianto?"

"Take Addiena home, Jack, I have to go see someone. I'll be back later" he told his partner before he walked off. Jack lifted their daughter up into his arms

"Where are you going?" he called but Ianto ignored him. His fast paced walking sped up until he was running.

"Where's taddy going?" Addie asked, Jack didn't answer her "Is he coming back?"

"I don't know. I hope so" he mumbled before looking down at the little girl staring at him with her big blue eyes. Jack plastered on a smile, bouncing her in his arms "Let's get you home. We can cook dinner for taddy and maybe if we're good, when he comes home, we can have ice cream"

"Yeah" she nodded doing the same thing her dad was doing. Smiling fakely.

TBC...


End file.
